Formation Fidesz had been unaffiliated at the European level since leaving the
European People's Party Group (EPP Group) in March 2021.
ANO MEPs belonged to the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and its affiliated
Renew Europe group since 2011, but left both organisations after the
2024 European Parliament elections, citing disagreements with the party's programme. The
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) belonged to the far-right
Identity and Democracy (ID) group during the
ninth term (2019–2024). On 30 June 2024, the founding of the group was announced at a press conference in Vienna by
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (
Fidesz), former
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (
ANO 2011), and former
Austrian Minister of the Interior Herbert Kickl and MEP
Harald Vilimsky (both
Freedom Party of Austria). Representatives of the three founding parties signed "A Patriotic Manifesto for a European Future", setting out the alliance's ideological positions, including weakening the EU, a focus on European cultural identity, opposition to
illegal immigration, and a revision of the
European Green Deal. On 1 July, the nationalist Portuguese party
Chega, with two MEPs, became the fourth member of the Patriots for Europe. On 5 July, the Spanish
Vox party also joined, leaving the
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. The same day, the Dutch
Party for Freedom (PVV), formerly part of the ID Group, also announced it would join. On 6 July, the
Danish People's Party and
Vlaams Belang, both part of the ID group, announced they would also join, bringing the group above the minimum number of member states required for an official European Parliament group. On 8 July, the
National Rally (RN) and
Lega were announced as new members of the group. The prerequisite for establishing a political group of the European Parliament is the membership of at least 23 MEPs from at least seven EU member states. The alliance met this criterion on 6 July 2024. According to
Le Monde, the RN waited until after the second round of the
2024 French legislative election for the announcement "for fear of reviving suspicion of pro-Russian sympathies". • Germany:
Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has 15 MEPs (formerly part of the ID Group). However, due to previous tension between Fidesz and AfD, this was seen as unlikely, with AfD stating it had no current plans to join. AfD expressed interest in creating a group including Hungarian Fidesz rival
Our Homeland Movement and the Bulgarian
Revival. These parties eventually established a separate far-right grouping,
Europe of Sovereign Nations. Fidesz leader
Viktor Orbán later stated in an interview that the
National Rally had objected to AfD joining the Patriots for Europe group. • Poland:
Law and Justice (PiS), which won 20 MEPs, initially negotiated with the Patriots for Europe, but later reached an agreement with
Brothers of Italy allowing it to remain in the
European Conservatives and Reformists. • Slovakia:
Republic Movement, with two MEPs, expressed interest in membership, but one MEP subsequently joined
Europe of Sovereign Nations on 10 July. • Slovakia:
Smer–SD was speculated to join the alliance with its five MEPs; however, according to its junior coalition partner,
Hlas–SD, Smer–SD expressed a preference for rejoining the
S&D group. Although it was later rejected from S&D, Smer–SD declined to join Patriots for Europe, saying that it can not join the group that "has nothing to do with
social democracy". • Slovenia: The
Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), which won four MEPs, ultimately remained part of the
EPP Group, while noting that not all SDS MEPs agreed with this decision. • Romania: The
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ), which won two MEPs, announced that the party will remain in the EPP group, because they believe that Hungarian interests can be asserted by being in separate factions, and because Fidesz has not approached them to join.
10th European Parliament (2024–present) On 8 July,
Jordan Bardella, president of the French
National Rally (RN), was named as the group's president. The Polish
Confederation's
National Movement, which won two MEPs, announced in July 2024 that it was in negotiations with Patriots for Europe, while the three Confederation MEPs from
New Hope joined the
ESN group, and the one
Confederation of the Polish Crown MEP was not seeking to join. Ultimately, the National Movement joined Patriots for Europe on 1 October. Following the expulsion of Luxembourgish
Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) MEP
Fernand Kartheiser from the
ECR group, the Patriots for Europe group approached the ADR for talks. The ADR stated that while it was considering what group the party wanted to belong to if the whole party were fully expelled from the
ECR Party, it was not yet actively discussing membership with any other political group. After the expulsion of
Smer-SD from the
Party of European Socialists, Smer MEP
Monika Beňová said the party had an offer from Patriots for Europe to join, and expressed her preference for this option. However, Smer MEP
Katarína Roth Neveďalová stated it was "not true" that the party was seeking to join the Patriots group, noting that the party had so far only approved a mandate to join another group, which could be possibly be a new faction. Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament
Tibor Gašpar, a Smer MP, confirmed that the party was considering joining Patriots for Europe. During this time, Smer leader
Robert Fico was reportedly in "ongoing consultations" with Fidesz leader
Viktor Orbán about joining the group, though Fico remained undecided. Vox of
Spain and Chega of
Portugal signaled openness to including Smer. According to Beňová, the party ultimately decided to postpone its decision until September 2026. == MEPs ==