Premier Giorgia Meloni said in a
letter to the National Conservatism conference in Brussels
Wednesday that was halted by a local mayor on public safety
grounds Tuesday that this had been an attack on the rightwing
parties' freedom of speech.
The event at the Claridge venue was halted by police on the
orders of the head of a Brussels municipality after two other
local mayors had refused to host an event featuring leaders such
as Hungary's Viktor Orban as well as the Meloni-led European
Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) caucus which Orban is set to
join.
"It never happened before, a conference with prime ministers,
MEPs and MPs was banned and then closed with an intervention by
the police," said Meloni in a letter read out by ECR Whip Nicola
Procaccini of the Italian PM's Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, in
which she apologised for not being with her fellow conservative
leaders in person because her plane for a Brussels European
Council meeting was late.
"This episode can be attributed to an extremist mayor, but the
risk of this virus spreading is real.
"Thank you to all of you for being there, and long live
freedom".
Participants include Spain's Vox, Poland's Law and Jusrice (PiS)
party, and French firebrand Eric Zemmour's Reconquete, all ECR
members.
Also at the two-day event were ex UKIP leader and Reform UK
honorary chair Nigel Farage and former hardline Tory home
secretary Suella Braverman, who were talking when the police
stopped proceedings.
The ECR was founded by ex Conservative leader and PM David
Cameron, now the foreign secretary.
The Tories left the group after Brexit.
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