BRUXELLES, Belgium (AFP) — Hungarian premier Viktor Orban’s fledgling political movement attracted enough parties Saturday to achieve recognition from the European Union (EU) parliament in a boost for his latest ploy to shift Brussels rightwards.

The nationalist leader announced 30 June his intention to form a new EU parliamentary group called “Patriots for Europe,” vowing “a new era” that “will change European politics.”

He made the announcement with the Austrian far-right Freedom Party and the centrist ANO of former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis in Strasbourg, and since then, five more parties said they will join.

Those include the Party for Freedom of Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders, Portugal’s far-right Chega party and Spain’s Vox.

With the Danish People’s Party and the Flemish nationalist pro-independence Vlaams Belang announcing they would join Saturday, Patriots for Europe fulfilled the EU parliament’s threshold for formal recognition — 23 lawmakers from seven countries.

Orban said the parties would meet Monday in Brussels.

By that time, Orban will know if France’s National Rally has chosen to join forces with him after the second round of the country’s legislative elections on Sunday.

If the National Rally decides to join Patriots for Europe, it would be the biggest political force within the group with 30 Members of European Parliament.

Italy’s League, led by Matteo Salvini, has also expressed an interest in the new movement but has not confirmed its participation.

Orban — whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency — has long railed against the “Brussels elites.”

His Fidesz party has been non-aligned in the EU Parliament since it left the right-wing European People’s Party in 2021 amid accusations of Hungary’s democratic backsliding.

With the formation of Patriots for Europe, Orban is bidding to become the dominant hard-right force in the EU Parliament.

As well as campaigning for conservative family values, the group would push back against European support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and immigration.

Several of the groups joining Orban’s movement were previously part of the Identity and Democracy group, which includes members of France’s National Rally.