Spring 2026 saw a Washington event that could become a turning point for European politics. The “Alliance of Sovereign Nations” (ASN) conference brought together representatives of right-wing and national-conservative parties from Europe alongside American politicians from the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement. Though formally dedicated to “protecting national sovereignty,” analysis of the participants, funding, and agenda suggests this was an attempt to build a transnational political network capable of shifting the balance of power within the European Union. The Alliance was initiated by Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, a former Kirk ally and key figure in the youth wing of the far-right MAGA movement, which in recent years has effectively absorbed the Republican Party.
The Conference
The Alliance of Sovereign Nations conference was held in Washington in early March 2026. Its organizational core was the American political organization Turning Point Action, linked to Charlie Kirk’s conservative movement Turning Point USA — Kirk was killed in September 2025. Turning Point USA is known for promoting MAGA ideology among young people and voters. The gathering was chaired by US House Speaker Mike Johnson. Representatives of the American political establishment also attended.
The forum’s stated goal was to create a platform for cooperation among supporters of national sovereignty. However, researchers of right-wing populism note that the initiative looks like an attempt to build an international network of political movements opposed to the structure of the European Union. The event thus formed part of the broader process of exporting MAGA ideology to Europe, which intensified following Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 2025.
Participants
The forum brought together representatives of several national-conservative parties from across Europe. Organizers claimed that, in addition to 12 US Congress members, 83 elected politicians from 38 countries were expected to attend — though the full guest list was never published.
Germany — Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)
One of the key players at the forum was the German party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), whose representatives were actively involved in organizing the event. Investigations indicate that AfD contributed approximately €35,000 toward the conference’s costs.
The most prominent member of the German delegation was Markus Frohnmaier, a Bundestag member since 2017, deputy chairman of the AfD parliamentary group, and the party’s official foreign policy spokesperson. He sits on the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee and is considered a close political ally of AfD co-chair Alice Weidel.
The delegation also included Marc Jongen, an AfD MEP since 2024, widely regarded as one of the party’s chief ideologists and often referred to as its “party philosopher.” Before entering politics, Jongen pursued an academic career and contributed to drafting party documents emphasizing the need to protect national culture and traditional values.
Also present was Marc Bernhard, a Bundestag member since 2017, a lawyer, and a former IT entrepreneur. Before joining AfD he was a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Bernhard regularly criticizes EU climate policy and questions the scientific consensus on climate change.
Another participant was Katrin Ebner-Steiner, a member of the Bavarian state parliament and a prominent figure in the AfD’s regional wing. She is associated with the more radical nationalist current within the party and is known for hardline anti-immigration statements, including calls for large-scale “remigration” of foreigners and the deportation of some refugees — positions that have drawn sharp criticism from German politicians and media.
The AfD’s overall political platform, as presented by these figures at international forums, centers on several key themes: sharply restricting migration and strengthening border controls; criticizing EU supranational institutions and demanding the return of powers to nation-states; defending the concept of national sovereignty; and calling for a reassessment of sanctions policy and a more pragmatic relationship with Russia.
This combination of positions — euroscepticism, national conservatism, and criticism of migration policy — makes AfD representatives important members of the emerging transnational network of right-wing political movements coalescing around the American MAGA movement and a number of national-conservative parties in Europe.
Other European Delegations
Beyond Germany, the conference drew representatives from a range of right-wing and national-conservative parties across Europe and the Balkans.
One of the largest delegations came from Romania’s Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), led by party leader George Simion. AUR presents itself as a national-conservative force advocating greater state sovereignty, strict migration policy, and a revision of EU institutional powers. Also attending was AUR’s ally from Moldova, political activist Vasile Costiuc.
Other European participants included Petra Steger of Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ), and Barbara Bonte of Belgium’s Flemish Interest (VB), known for its nationalist and anti-immigration platform. Croatia was represented by Stjepo Nikola Bartulić of the Homeland and National Restoration movement, which promotes cultural conservatism and strengthened national sovereignty.
The conference also drew representatives from the Balkans and South Caucasus. The Georgian delegation was led by the chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, Nikoloz Samkharadze. Bosnia and Herzegovina was represented by the current member of the country’s presidency, Željka Cvijanović, together with her colleague Radovan Kovačević. Serbia was represented by politicians linked to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, including Arnaud Goujon, director of Serbia’s Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy.
Several participants are known for supporting or propagating narratives that align with Russian foreign policy rhetoric, including criticism of sanctions and advocacy for negotiations with Moscow.
Agenda and Key Themes
The central theme of the speeches was the idea of restoring the primacy of national sovereignty over supranational institutions. Many participants stressed the need to return key political powers to nation-states and criticized the EU’s institutional model, which in their remarks was often described as an excessively centralized bureaucratic system that limits the democratic choices of individual countries. Strengthening national parliaments and governments was presented as a necessary condition for “restoring the political balance” between states and pan-European structures.
Migration policy was another major topic. Conference participants called for substantially tighter controls on Europe’s external borders, stronger border infrastructure, and expanded deportation of illegal migrants. Several speeches included demands to revise existing open-border policies and impose stricter regulation of asylum procedures.
Freedom of speech and the regulation of digital platforms were also on the agenda. Right-wing politicians criticized European initiatives to combat disinformation, arguing that such mechanisms could be used as instruments of political censorship.
Finally, in closed-door and corridor discussions, considerable attention was devoted to political coordination — specifically, building a stable international network of national-conservative parties that could facilitate the exchange of electoral strategies, coordination of election campaigns, and joint political events across different countries.
Strategic Goals and Implications
Although no official concluding document was published following the conference, a number of strategic objectives can be identified from participants’ speeches and organizers’ comments.
A key stated goal was strengthening the influence of right-wing and national-conservative parties in European politics — primarily by expanding their representation in the European Parliament and in national parliaments across EU member states. Right-wing and right-populist parties already control roughly a quarter of seats in the European Parliament, and further gains are seen as an important step toward revising a number of EU-wide policies, particularly on migration, the powers of supranational institutions, and economic regulation.
Another key objective was the creation of a stable transnational cooperation network. The Washington forum is viewed as the first phase in building a regular international platform to unite politicians, party strategists, and activists from different countries — a coordination hub to facilitate the exchange of political technologies, alignment of electoral strategies, and joint political events. American structures linked to the MAGA movement are expected to play a significant role in developing this network, serving simultaneously as a source of financial support, an ideological reference point, and a communications platform for Europe’s right-wing political forces.
Risks for the European Union
The consolidation of right-wing and national-conservative forces around the MAGA movement’s ideological agenda poses several serious political challenges for the EU.
First, there is the risk of fragmentation of European politics. The growing popularity of eurosceptic parties across EU member states is already affecting the balance of power within pan-European institutions and complicating decision-making at the union level. As right-wing and right-populist parties strengthen their positions in national parliaments and in European Parliament elections, forging coherent policy on key issues — from migration to economic regulation — becomes an increasingly difficult task for European institutions.
A related consequence could be the weakening of EU integration. If national-conservative parties consolidate their hold on governments in several countries, this could lead to the blocking of certain pan-European reforms, a reduction in the influence of the European Commission, and a greater role for national governments in decision-making.
There is also the risk of shifts in the character of transatlantic relations. US–European relations are already under strain from the Trump administration’s policies and recurring trade disputes. The emergence within the EU of a political network of parties ideologically aligned with MAGA could deepen internal contradictions and create alternative channels of Washington’s influence over European politics.
Finally, some participants in such initiatives display a notably softer stance toward Moscow, which could affect EU sanctions policy and the broader architecture of European security.
Conclusion
What is effectively taking shape is a network in which the American MAGA movement serves as the ideological hub and European right-wing parties act as political allies. If this process continues, Europe may face a new form of political integration — not through EU institutions, but through transnational networks of national-conservative movements. This is precisely what makes the Washington conference a significant signal of the transformation now underway in Europe’s political landscape.