European ultra nationalists to meet in Bucharest

Corneliu Vadim Tudor, leader of the PRM ("Greater Romania" Party), is arranging a reunion of all the ultra nationalist leaders in Europe in People's House, Bucharest, in an attempt to save his party from collapse and the "Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty" group in the Parliament of Europe from going extinct.
The congress of the European ultra nationalist group known as mentioned above is to take place in the Parliament Palace, Romania, in late September. The PRM officials reached this decision last week in a stormy meeting.
PRM sources claim the party president insisted it should be kept away from the press. They say Corneliu Vadim Tudor wanted it so that the press wouldn't report on well-known "extremists" in Europe coming to Romania to attend the first congress of the "Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty" group. On the other hand, Corneliu Vadim Tudor warned the press had many a time given a hand to a label for the PRM such as "a xenophobe and anti-Semite" party.
According to PRM sources, delegations from all the parties affiliated to the group mentioned above, headed by controversial leaders such as Jean-Marie Le Pen, Alessandra Mussolini or Jorg Heider, are going to attend the event. The British independent deputy Ashley Mote is expected to attend too.
Failure would mean catastrophe
As strategy is in his nature, the PRM head wants it to take place in late September so that it would be close to the election of MEPs from Romania, for which a date hasn't been set yet. This election is crucial to the nationalists in the group mentioned above, because a failure of the PRM in the elections would lead to the dismemberment of the group in the Parliament of Europe headed by Bruno Gollnisch and they would no longer have the necessary number of MEPs.
On the other hand, Corneliu Vadim Tudor is hopeful that a luxurious congress would refresh his party's electorate. Both the PRM and its head have lately lost significant points in opinion polls and the party may fail to make it to the Parliament of Romania.
Dismissed by the EPP
Corneliu Vadim Tudor has many a time tried to build a European look for the PRM. He even struggled to get the party affiliated to the large EPP, but his efforts were fruitless. After some talks in Italy and a visit to the Vatican in 2005, the EPP leaders set some conditions for the PRM to join their group. The first was for Corneliu Vadim Tudor to no longer head the group, because in Europe he was perceived as an extremist and xenophobe leader.
He pretended the PRM was changing and he appointed Corneliu Ciontu a president of the party. But since talks with the EPP were doomed to fail, he got his leadership over the party back and organized a congress, not in keeping with the PRM status, by which Corneliu Ciontu was expelled from the party.
Since the Romanian party was affiliated to any European group, the EPP refused political relations with the PRM. And therefore Corneliu Vadim Tudor has started to court the EU outlaws, now members of the ultra nationalist "Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty" groups.

Razvan Gheorghe
Ziua Miercuri 08 August 2007 http://www.ziua.net/english