The Spanish Senate’s hosting of the 6th Transatlantic Summit, organised by the Political Network for Values (PNfV), has sparked controversy.
PNfV is a Conservative platform that connects right-wing politicians and activists from Europe, Latin America, the US and Africa to promote and debate ideas and how to push them into the agenda.
Each year summits are held in different locations. The previous meeting in 2023 was at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The Madrid version on December 2 caused consternation, particularly among left-wing and hard-left forces, which had openly called for a boycott.
Days before the Spain meeting, various left-wing organisations had called for a boycott of the event, as well as a demonstration in front of the Senate itself.
On the day, a police security cordon prevented incidents, although several attendees said they had been harassed by these groups amid shouts of “we give birth, we decide” or “rosaries out of our ovaries”, referring to the pro-life stance of those attending the summit.
Brussel Signal was told two female Senators from Spain’s far-left Podemos party (to which MEP Irene Montero belongs) had threatened to show up and protest within the Senate itself, although neither did so.
The summit was supported by prominent international organisations aligned with PNfV, such as The Heritage Foundation, Foundation for a Civic Hungary, Centre for Fundamental Rights, International Organisation for the Family, Family Watch International, Centre for Family and Human Rights, Family Research Council, Fundación Neos, Ordo Iuris – Institute for Legal Culture and Más Cinco.
Participants included political figures such as Nahuel Sotelo, secretary of Worship and Civilisation of Argentina; Márton Ugrósdy, deputy state secretary in Hungary; European Parliament members Kinga Gal (Hungary), Stephen Bartulica (Croatia), Nicolas Bay (France), Paolo Inselvini (Italy), Margarita de la Pisa (Spain) and Serban-Dimitrie Sturdza (Romania).
Also included were US Congressman Andy Harris and Colombian Senator Paola Holguín. Representatives from Brazil, Chile, Portugal, Austria and Poland, along with local figures such as Spain’s Vox party secretary-general Ignacio Garriga, were in attendance, too.
Former Spanish interior minister Jaime Mayor Oreja, honorary president of PNfV Spain, strongly defended the right to life during his speech: “We must not fear. Even though prevailing trends attack us, we are winning the cultural battle by defending a Christian anthropology of the human being.”
José Antonio Kast, founder of Chile’s Republican Party and outgoing PNfV president, celebrated the summit taking place despite the calls for cancellation: “They fear us because we are irreducible. We will never falter in defending these values, whether in Spain, Hungary, Colombia, Chile, or any country represented here. This network continues to grow and expand its influence,” he said.
Garriga reiterated his pro-life stance, calling Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government a “criminal gang” that promoted policies such as abortion and euthanasia.
A change in PNfV leadership marked the summit’s conclusion. Croatian MEP Stephen Bartulica assumed the presidency, succeeding Kast after his two-and-a-half-year term.
Bartulica, an academic and the founder of the Zagreb-base Centre for Renewal of Culture, which promotes Conservative values, liberty and the free market, pledged to continue expanding the organisation’s influence,, saying: “Kast’s leadership has been crucial in creating effective synergies. Now, we will move forward to amplify our agenda on the international stage.”
