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Agence France-Presse

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon hailed election results for the European Parliament on Monday and said the idea of further European Union integration was “dead” after gains by far-right nationalist parties.
Bannon, who has sought to build links with European populist parties, also urged them to get over their differences and form a “supergroup” in the parliament in the next month.
“The integration movement, which is what the EU has always been about, is dead,” Bannon said in an interview in his €5,400-a-night (US$6,000) suite at Le Bristol hotel in Paris.
“You will not see [EU Commission President] Juncker or any of that crowd pushing for more integration. That’s the historic thing about yesterday,” added the head of US President Donald Trump’s victorious 2016 election campaign.

Bannon revelled in the second-place finish of French President Emmanuel Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) party, which trailed the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen.
“He went all in and lost,” Bannon said. “He has not expanded his base outside the urban metropolitan elite.”
He added: “I don’t know of any politician in living memory who has had as bad a run as Macron in the last four to five months, so I imagine he’s a little sore.”
Here are five key takeaways from the EU elections
Pro-European parties will hold a majority in the new European Parliament, however, although the traditional centre-right and centre-left groups lost ground in the EU-wide election.
Macron’s allies have also put a positive spin on Sunday’s results in France, highlighting how LREM finished a close second to the RN and how Le Pen’s party scored a lower proportion of the vote than in the last EU election in 2014.
Various populists, Eurosceptic and right-wing parties made gains overall in the European elections – winning more than 150 seats and finishing top in France, Italy and Britain – but they remain split on key issues.

If they were to act as one, they could be the second- or third-biggest force in the EU parliament, but many analysts see their chances of uniting as being slim and their future influence as limited.
“I think the supergroup is absolutely essential because that critical mass makes a statement in the EU. You are going to have to be united around a few core issues,” Bannon said.
“This is going to take both vision and statecraft to put together because there are differences,” he added.
Who will replace European Commission President Juncker?
The ruling hard-right nationalist party in Poland has so far refused to align with Le Pen’s National Rally party because of her pro-Russian views.
Britain’s Nigel Farage, head of the victorious Brexit party, has also rejected any tie-up with Le Pen in the past over the history of anti-Semitism in the French far-right.
Rather than the problem, Bannon sees Le Pen as the solution.
“I wear that as a badge of an honour … I don’t mind taking the incoming. I’m a honey badger. I kind of like it
Steve Bannnon
“Le Pen is the key that picks the lock,” he said of the 50-year-old, who invited Bannon to address the first meeting of her newly rebranded party – previously known as the National Front – in March last year.
“Because she defeated Macron,” Bannon added. “He is such an important element in this. He is the system, he personifies it and he articulates it in a very sincere way.”
The former investment banker’s stay in Paris has created waves, with a senior aide in Macron’s party saying it made him want to “throw up” and the present speaker of parliament and his five predecessors writing a joint letter to denounce Bannon.
Farage’s Brexit Party triumphs in EU vote, disaster for Tories
They criticised his “untimely meddling” in French politics.
“I wear that as a badge of an honour,” Bannon said when asked of the criticism, adding that he had merely given a few television interviews since arriving in Paris last week.
“I came here and made some observations about the election, about how Macron had made this a referendum on himself,” he added. “I don’t mind taking the incoming. I’m a honey badger. I kind of like it.”

Bannon’s efforts to forge unity among the EU’s anti-immigration, Eurosceptic parties has hit hurdles.
He announced the creation of a Brussels-based foundation called “The Movement” to spark a populist right-wing revolt in the European elections, but many potential partners have distanced themselves publicly.
“I’m just an observer,” he said. “You don’t need Steve Bannon to come over to Europe to win races.
“[But] if they need assistance, we will be there.”


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European Union

EU elections: Steve Bannon says integration is ‘dead’, as he urges right-wing parties to form ‘supergroup’ in European Parliament

Steve Bannon poses during a photo session in Paris on Monday. Photo: AFP

epa07602031 French president Emmanuel Macron (C) leaves the polling booth prior to cast his ballot at a polling station in Le Touquet, France, 26 May 2019, as part of the vote for the European parliamentary election. EPA-EFE/LUDOVIC MARIN MAXPPP OUT

Leader of the Brexit Party Nigel Farage and newly elected Members of the European Parliament from Brexit Party attend a news conference following the results of the European Parliament elections, in London, Britain May 27, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

epa07603665 French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) President and member of French Parliament Marine Le Pen delivers a speech after the projections for the results of the European Parliament elections at the RN headquarters in Paris, France, 26 May 2019. The European Parliament election is held by member countries of the European Union (EU) from 23 to 26 May 2019. EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

Pope Francis sounds racism alarm as far-right parties win big in European Parliament elections

Pope Francis blesses a child as he arrives for the weekly general audience on May 8 at St Peter's square in the Vatican. Photo: AFP

TOPSHOT - Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini gestures as he speaks during a press conference in the Lega headquarters in northern Milan following the results of the European parliamentary elections, on May 27, 2019. - Matteo Salvini's anti-migrant League party won the most votes on May 26 in European elections in Italy, marking a historic success for the far-right. With over 99 percent of ballots counted, the League won 34.3 percent, compared to just six percent in the 2014 EU elections and 17 percent in the Italian general election last year. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)

epa07603675 French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) President and member of French Parliament Marine Le Pen delivers a speech after the projections for the results of the European Parliament elections at the RN headquarters in Paris, France, 26 May 2019. The European Parliament election is held by member countries of the European Union (EU) from 23 to 26 May 2019. EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

EU elections: France’s Emmanuel Macron and Spain’s Pedro Sanchez meet to discuss top jobs and reject far-right as populists gain ground

French President Emmanuel Macron (right) welcomes Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) party leader Marine Le Pen talks to the media after the first results in Paris, France, May 26, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

German Greens party top candidate Sven Giegold (2ndL) and co-leader of the Green party Annalena Baerbock (2ndR) celebrate as exit poll are announced on public broadcast TV stations during the election evening on May 26, 2019 in Berlin following the European parliament election. - Europeans headed to the polls in their tens of millions as 21 countries chose their champions in a battle between the nationalist right and pro-EU forces to chart a course for the union. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

epa07606461 German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a joint press statment with Costa Rican President Quesada (not pictured) at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 27 May 2019. Quesada also met with German President Steinmeier earlier in the day. EPA-EFE/OMER MESSINGER

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage reacts after the European Parliament election results for the UK South East Region are announced at the Civic Centre Southampton, Southern England, on early May 27, 2019. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) / ALTERNATIVE CROP

Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party triumphs in EU elections, as Tories score worst results in decades

Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party. Photo: Bloomberg

(190527) -- SOUTHAMPTON, May 27, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Officials count ballots at a European Parliament elections count centre in Southampton, Britain, on May 26, 2019. The first local results announced Sunday night showed that the Brexit Party outperformed the ruling Conservative and opposition Labour parties in Britain in the European Parliament elections. (Xinhua/Ray Tang)

(190525) -- BEIJING, May 25, 2019 (Xinhua) -- An EU flag is seen in front of a UK flag outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, on Jan. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)

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Populists and Eurosceptic parties made gains in polls but remain split on key issues
Former Trump adviser sees France’s Le Pen as ‘the key’ to uniting various groups thanks to her defeat of Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party


Various populist and Eurosceptic groups made gains in polls but remain split on key issues.


EU elections: Steve Bannon says integration is ‘dead’, as he urges right-wing parties to form ‘supergroup’ in European Parliament

Populists and Eurosceptic parties made gains in polls but remain split on key issues Former Trump adviser sees France’s Le Pen as ‘the key’ to uniting various groups thanks to her defeat of Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party

Populists and Eurosceptic parties made gains in polls but remain split on key issues

Former Trump adviser sees France’s Le Pen as ‘the key’ to uniting various groups thanks to her defeat of Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party