Chile’s newly elected President, José Antonio Kast, said society is suffering from an overabundance of “isms” that are eroding long-standing values — a phenomenon he argued is not limited to the European Union but is equally visible in South America.
“Environmentalism. Extreme environmentalism. Extreme animalism. We see genderism,” Kast said.
He was speaking yesterday at the close of the VII Transatlantic Summit: Free Speech vs Regulated Speech in Brussels, organised by the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) and Patriots for Europe in the European Parliament
In December 2025, Kast won the Chilean presidential election with more than 58 per cent of the vote, defeating Communist Party candidate Jeannette Jara. The result marked a clear shift to the Right in Chilean politics. He is set to take office in March.
Crime and migration were the central themes of his election campaign and Kast announced plans to deport undocumented migrants from Chile.
In doing so, he aligns himself with the hardline approach taken by the US, where illegal migrants are deported, if necessary by force, via the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
In Brussels, Kast received a standing ovation from ECR and Patriots for Europe. In his speech, he emphasised “Christian values” and warned against what he described as an ideologically driven attack on free speech.
He urged supporters to “win the battle” by actively engaging in society and openly defending their ideas.
Family, he stressed, is the most important pillar in his life. According to Kast, social cohesion and classical Christian values must therefore be preserved.
Meanwhile, Father Benedict Kiely, a Catholic priest who baptised Dutch right-wing political commentator and activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek in 2023, following her conversion to Catholicism.
Vlaardingerbroek, who has more than 1 million followers on social media, has been banned from entering the. UK after she heavily criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Kiely also issued a warning at the Transatlantic conference about what he described as a global assault on free speech.
“This is Orwellian,” Kiely said, also condemning the arrests of fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers in the UK over their comments on social media platforms such as X.
At the same time, free speech is increasingly under attack. Spain, for example, is working on a system to detect online hate speech — but many wonder who decides what counts as “hate”.
According to Kast, it is crucial that people do not allow themselves to be side-lined or isolated. “If we don’t participate and exert influence, there are plenty of others ready to step in and take our place.
“They then implement their laws. That is what we are fighting against. Defend and promote our ideas. We promote life, family, and freedom.” Ultimately, he said, it comes down to common sense.
“There will always be people who wave the flag of freedom. I look to the future with optimism,” Kast added.
Throughout the summit, warnings were voiced by multiple speakers about what they described as the totalitarian reach of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Operating under the pretext of combating misinformation and fake news, critics at the summit argued the DSA is being used to censor and restrict free speech. It is, they said, intended to silence political opponents.
Santiago Abascal, President of Patriots for Europe and a member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, said he is frustrated with how his movement is portrayed by the political Left.
“They call us transphobic. They call us Nazis and fascists, in order to kill or silence us. We are demonised and ridiculed. We see a systematic global attack on freedom of speech,” he said.
