VI. Transatlantic Summit in Madrid

On December 1 and 2, 2024, the VI Transatlantic Summit of the Political Network for Values (PNfV) met in Madrid at the seat of the Spanish Senate, and therefore under particularly high security measures. Unlike previous summits, this one was smaller and fewer high-ranking politicians were present than usual.

As with all such events, parliamentarians, ministers, and members of ultra-conservative organizations from Latin America, Europe, the United States, and Africa met for a full day to network, consider draft legislation, share successful experiences, and develop strategies to combat the left and what they refer to as “woke” left-wing culture.

Enforcing fundamentalistic Christian values

During the conference, eight panels discussed primarily how “Christian values” can become more important in public policy and how the “culture of life” can prevail. The president of the Polish ultra-Catholic Ordo Iuris, Jerzy Kwaśniewski, ÖVP MP Gudrun Kugler, Chilean MP Stephan Schubert, and Sharon Slater (Family Watch International) from the US were among the speakers. Valerie Huber, president of the Institute for Women's Health in the US, mentioned that US President-elect Trump had already told her that he would reinstate the “Genova Consensus Declaration,” which opposes the right to abortion.

This goal is also included in the Madrid Commitment adopted at the summit. The signatories commit themselves to doing everything in their power to ensure that their governments implement the Geneva Consensus Declaration in their countries. The document was reportedly signed by 300 people.

Change of leadership to Europe

There has been a change at the top of the Political Network for Values. Croatian MEP Stephen Bartulica replaces Chilean José Antonio Kast as president, who held the office for two and a half years. Kast said: "I encourage you to stand firm and persevere in defending what is good and true. Your example inspires people around the world. We must fight in the arena of politics, but it is not enough to win elections; it is culture that will ultimately determine the fate of our nations. We must not give an inch here. We are called upon to win the hearts and minds of the next generation."

Stjepo (Stephen Nikola) Bartulica has been a member of the European Parliament since 2024 as a representative of the Croatian party Domovinski Pokret (Homeland Movement), for which he also entered the national parliament in 2020. Born in St. Joseph, Missouri (USA), the Croatian is a member of the right-wing Catholic Opus Dei and, since his return to Croatia, has fought primarily against reproductive rights. In February 2009, he founded the Center for the Renewal of Culture (Centar za obnovu kulture – COK), “whose mission is to promote ‘new conservatism,’ strengthen traditional understandings of marriage and family, and advocate for the protection of life, i.e., against abortion,” according to Jadranka Rebeka Anić (2021).

Our colleague Andrea Dip reported on the VI Transatlantic Summit in ICL Noticias (Brazil), as did Klementyna Suchanow on wyborsza.pl (Poland) and euractiv.

Redacción: Ulli Jentsch