Far right political party Chega leader Andre Ventura gestures during a rally on the final day of campaigning ahead of Portugal's general election, in Lisbon, Portugal, January 28, 2022.  REUTERS/Pedro Nunes
Portugal

Portuguese far-right Chega to host World Summit in May

Portuguese party Chega will hold a world summit in Lisbon with several far-right party leaders in May, including former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and Italian deputy PM Matteo Salvini.

LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese party Chega will hold a world summit in Lisbon with several far-right party leaders in May, including former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, the president of Chega said on Friday.

In a video statement, the president of Chega, Andre Ventura, said Bolsonaro and Salvini "already accepted the invitation to the great right-wing world summit" on the 13th and 14th of May.

"The presence of Jair Bolsonaro, Matteo Salvini and many other leaders of the European right, places Lisbon as one of the strongest new centers of the right in Europe and one of the world references in the fight against socialism", he said.

In January 2022, Portugal's ruling Socialist Party gained an unexpected outright majority and the Social Democrats finished second, but Chega increased its support and became the third largest party in parliament.

In March, Ventura told journalists he also planned to invite Marine Le Pen of France or Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, leaders of far-right parties in their countries.

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves and Catarina Demony; Editing by David Gregorio)

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