Tamás Deutsch, the head of ruling Fidesz’s European parliamentary delegation, has hailed the establishment of the new Patriots for Europe EP group as a „historic moment”. Deutsch told Hungarian journalists after the group’s inaugural session in Brussels on Monday that the party group would work to get a „free and independent Europe back on its feet”. He said the support of the more than 2 million Hungarians who voted in last month’s EP elections gave the Hungarian right „significant strength”. He added that more than 20 million people had voted for the politicians of Patriots for Europe and the change its platform aimed to bring to European politics. The politicians of the new group, he said, were able and willing to work to preserve freedom, peace and Europe’s Christian heritage, as well as to work for a „more liveable, strong Europe based on nation-states”. „We’re thinking in terms of a Europe of nations,” he said. „We will stop illegal migration at the European level and protect Europe and Europeans.” Patriots for Europe established its EP group with 84 MEPs from 12 member states.