How have Europe’s far-right reacted to Trump’s stance on Ukraine?

European far-right and conservative circles have long sought to build ties with the US Republican party while admiring its right-wing and conservative policies.

But US President Donald Trump’s decision to halt military support to Ukraine and his spat with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy have provoked cross-party outrage across Europe.

Many right-wing and far-right parties are engaging in a complex balancing act, which entails publicly demonstrating their support for Trump — or at the very least refraining from criticising him — while striving to stay popular and credible domestically. 

Le Pen: ‘Harsh words pretty normal’

Politicians from France’s far-right National Rally party have long sought to build ties with Trump and the Republican party. The US president described the party’s former leader Marine Le Pen as the “best candidate” in the 2017 French presidential race.

But after Trump’s harsh exchange with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last week, Le Pen called out the “brutality” of the suspension of US military support to Ukraine.

She did not criticise the motivations behind Trump’s decision. However, she told Le Figaro newspaper she found “the brutality of this decision reprehensible”, adding that the move was “very cruel for Ukrainian soldiers engaged in the patriotic defense of their country”.

Those statements marked a shift from the stance Le Pen held days earlier, having glossed over the Oval Office incident when questioned about it by reporters in Paris.

Le Pen said that “world leaders are able to speak to each other with passion, are able to have frictions, that harsh words can be exchanged is pretty normal after all”, but recognised that the spat may have generated “legitimate emotions”.

When Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine more than a decade ago, Le Pen asserted it was Russian territory and opposed sanctions imposed by the EU on Moscow.

Other National Rally members have defended Trump’s exchange with Zelenskyy.

In an interview with French radio broadcaster RTL, lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy asserted that Zelenskyy “was not humiliated”, refuting claims that Trump and his Vice President JD Vance adopted bully-like behaviour.

These contradictions come as the National Rally — under Jordan Bardella’s leadership — has sought to tidy up its image and its former ties to Russia, which have not gone down well with the French electorate following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Farage: ‘I wouldn’t expect a guest to be rude to me in my own house’

Last month, Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK’s far-right Reform party and former leader of the pro-Brexit United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) told his supporters that Trump’s 2024 presidential election win “should serve as an inspiration”.

But weeks later, when Trump claimed that Zelenskyy was a “dictator” on his Truth Social platform, Farage said, “you should always take everything Donald Trump says seriously, you shouldn’t always take things Donald Trump says absolutely literally. I think that applies very much in this case.”

Farage’s comments echo a statement made by the US president’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in a 2016 interview.

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“You guys (the media) took everything that Donald Trump said so literally,” he said then.

Like Lewandowski, Farage did not exactly contradict Trump. Instead, he blamed the media and those who held him accountable for his statements.

“Trump says jump and Farage asks, ‘How high,'” Russell Foster, a senior lecturer in International Politics at King’s College, told Euronews. 

“Nigel Farage is still going on about his support for Trump, even though the British people clearly do not like him. He has misread the room and this could massively hamper his political standing,” Foster explained.

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Although Farage’s supporters are more inclined to be sympathetic to Russia and Trump, criticism of the US president has intensified in the UK following his spat with Zelenskyy.

A poll carried out by YouGov after the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting revealed that 80% of Britons were unfavourable to the US President, compared with 73% two weeks earlier.

In a recent interview with British broadcaster LBC, Farage tried to dodge questions on the issue. Asked about whether there was anything “intemperate” about Trump’s language, he said “whether there was or there wasn’t, we’re heading towards peace”.

While Farage said he was not “defending Vance and Trump”, he echoed the pair’s claims that the Ukrainian president was rude to them, saying, “I wouldn’t expect a guest to be rude to me in my own house.”

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Farage also criticised Zelenskyy’s appearance, stating, “if I turned up at the White House, I would make sure I was wearing a suit and my shoes were cleaned”.

AfD: ‘Peace even without the beggarly Zelenskyy’

Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) has worked hard to build ties with the Trump administration, with the US president’s tech billionaire aide Elon Musk dialling into an election campaign event by the far-right party back in January.

After last week’s Oval Office spat, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel posted a picture of Trump wagging his finger at Zelenskyy with the caption “Historic. Trump & Vance”.

Her party does not have a record of being supportive of Ukraine.

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Last year, a large number of AfD politicians left the German Bundestag building when Zelenskyy appealed to lawmakers for more support for his country. During its election campaign, the AfD also called for an end to German military support for Ukraine.

In another post shared on X, AfD politician Tino Chrupalla said peace in Ukraine should be achieved even if Zelenskyy was not involved.

“President Trump is cancelling talks with President Zelensky because he is not ready for peace. Peace must still be achieved, even without the beggarly President Zelensky,” Chrupalla said.

Meanwhile, Björn Hoecke, who is the leader of the party’s most radical wing, blamed Zelenskyy for the outcome of the Oval Office meeting, stating that the Ukrainian president had “decided to insult his hosts”.

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While the AfD continues to back Trump, some experts say that their rhetoric has been relatively cautious in light of recent events.

“They seem to have toned down quite a bit pro-Trump, pro-Putin rhetoric”, said Foster of King’s College. 

Orban: ‘Strong men make peace, weak men make war’

Some European politicians may be reining in their public courting of Trump, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is not one of them. 

In a post shared on X, shortly after the Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office meeting, the leader of the ruling Fidesz party wrote, “strong men make peace, weak men make war,” praising Trump for standing “bravely for peace”.

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Orbán has long been one of the EU’s most vocal critics. Friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Hungarian premier has consistently blocked European military support packages for Ukraine, claiming that Western support prolongs Russia’s war. 

“I don’t think Orbán is necessarily sympathetic to Trump, but he’s very pro-Putin, so he views Trump as an avenue to Putin,” said Foster.

The Hungarian prime minister has urged the EU to follow in Trump’s footsteps and open up direct talks with the Kremlin while blocking the approval of joint conclusions supporting Ukraine at a summit held by Europe’s 27 leaders in Brussels on Thursday.

“Orban’s genuinely likes Putin and wants to be his ally, but also loves to have the power to portray himself as leading some sort of resistance to the European Union and globalisation,” Foster concluded.

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