'Stop demonising me'

Branded a "Holocaust denier", charged in court and boycotted by hundreds of MEPs, the new leader of the far-right in the European Parliament, Bruno Gollnisch, intends to put up a stiff fight. "Perhaps I am a villain, but I hate nobody," Jean-Marie Le Pen's second-in-command tells Herman Grech.

Walking into the MEPs' bar in the European Parliament for his interview with The Times, Mr Gollnisch awkwardly bumps into one of his most vociferous critics - Martin Schultz, the leader of the Socialists' Group.

With barely a glance, Mr Gollnisch lets Mr Schultz charge past, before making himself comfortable on a sofa with a breakfast of croissants and espressos. He has a lot to talk about.

"I will give you all the time you want," he smiles, adjusting his spectacles. Faced with a barrage of media accusations, the 57-year old professor is determined to get his message across.

Since announcing a new far-right group in the European Parliament barely a month ago, which goes by the name Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty, Mr Gollnisch has faced a barrage of opposition to the extent that parliamentarians were willing to ditch new procedures as a means of freezing Europe's new group.

Their arguments appeared justified anyway - Mr Gollnisch, a member of the French National Front, was recently fined for comments he purportedly made about the Holocaust.

The group of 20 MEPs includes members of the Attack party from Bulgaria, which published lists of Bulgarian Jews on its website, and the party of Alessandra Mussolini, grand-daughter of Italy's World War II fascist leader.

The Independent newspaper dedicated its front page to the new group by branding it "Fascists, racists, holocaust deniers and gypsy haters" and The Guardian called them "hooligans".

For Mr Gollnisch this could be no further from the truth. He claims that the authorities, together with the press, are on a witch hunt to try and demonise him.

"It's very unfair and in some aspects totalitarian how the establishment is treating us. It's obvious that there's a political system which is very afraid of challenges," he says.

He insists the professions of several MEPs in his group were enough to ridicule such titles as "hooligans". The group comprises Marine Le Pen, a barrister, Ms Mussolini, a medical doctor, and five high-ranking university professors. Ms Mussolini has expressed openly that her grandfather had made a lot of mistakes, he points out.

He maintains his innocence to the charges that he is a Holocaust denier.

"This case didn't happen because of what I said but only because I was deliberately provoked by hostile journalists who put questions to me about the concentration camps. I just said that this debate, which the journalists started, belonged to historians.

"I was subsequently kicked out of university and condemned by the court just because I pronounced the word 'debate'. If I weren't allowed to give that answer, then should journalists have been allowed to put the questions?

"I never made any statement about gas chambers. The union of Jewish students was among those who withdrew from the trial and, yet, I was still prosecuted and ordered to pay damages.

"Demonisation is part of the psychological warfare. Am I a villain? Perhaps I am... And I'm proud of it in a way. St Paul was meant to be a villain too - and the villain won... I hate nobody. I guess I'm just honest, correct and efficient.

Ultimately, what I want to do is defend peacefully and legally the interest of people who voted for me," he says, sipping his coffee.

He says the fact that MEPs are trying to block the creation of this new far right group proves that, although small, it is already very influential. The fact that there is a group of people, sharing common views, who decided to face misinformation is a good thing.

Mr Gollnisch knows his group cannot change the trend of European politics but he says its objectives have been clearly put on paper.

The group wants to retain the identity of each member state. "No, we don't want to wage war or expand our territories. We consider Europe to be the place where the independence of nations was born and we want to keep this. We would like to keep the European identity and it's not as obvious as people believe."

Of course, Turkey's ambitions to join the EU is a major point of contention. The new far-right group believes the EU should have a good relationship with Turkey, but it does not consider it a European country geographically, ethically, linguistically or culturally. Turkey could be a bridge between Europe and Asia but it would be "dangerous" for it to join the bloc.

Still, Mr Gollnisch says he is not opposed to further enlargement eastwards, including countries like the Ukraine and Moldova.

"We are not reactionary but we want to root modernity in European traditions - not only in our way of lives but we also want common values derived from Christian civilisation. We consider European civilisation to be derived from Christianity."

For Mr Gollnisch, the EU is far from all right. He holds there is a malaise derived from the trend of European institutions clearly moving towards a technocratic European central state.

Doesn't he fear that the term "far-right" is ultimately synonymous with extreme views, even violence?

"That is part of the psychological warfare. If something bad happens in the world it's always the extreme-right to blame. If you have hooligans in the stadia they are meant to be extreme right. And, of course, I am now the chief of the hooligans," he laughs heartily.

Asked what he made of the skinheads who were wreaking havoc in Russia and feel very comfortable branding themselves as the new far-right, he replies:

"I'm no more responsible for that than Ms (Segolene) Royal who is a presidential candidate for the left in France and who is meant to be responsible for the people who called themselves Socialists and set bombs in Corsica."

Mr Gollnisch knows he cannot change things in the European Parliament but he is well aware that in a Europe embroiled over immigration, cultural wars about European identity and values, and with scepticism of a super-Europe run in Brussels, some people are ripe for new ideas.

"We need a review of Europe. We will fight jointly against misinformation and show we're not afraid of doing it. Unfortunately, you are branded anti-Semitic when you defend your own nation."

His group insists on the need for normal protection all around Europe.

"We need to protect ourselves against massive immigration from non-EU countries and financial investments, which are merely speculative. We have to correct the effect of low-cost products that are manufactured in countries like China. Hundreds of millions are in near slavery because this Communist country is a paradise for the most cynical capitalism."

When it comes to illegal immigration, Mr Gollnisch holds firm views.

"Law has to be enforced. In France, thanks to the legal system, illegal immigrants take months, even years, to leave. There are now hundreds of thousands, probably millions of them in France causing problems in housing. We have laws that check if children go to school and, as much as I sympathise with people's plights, we can't accept complete submission. If we welcome Third World people will it really help the Third World to develop?"

In a lot of countries there is a lot of misuse of the term "political asylum", he says, highlighting the need to draw up agreements in the countries of origin.

He believes illegal immigrants should be sent back home, even those coming from war-torn countries.

"If not, countries like Malta will disappear. If you accept some of them, then many immigrants will try their luck. I ask: Why are so many Tamils from Sri Lanka coming to France when they could cross the Colombo Strait and go to India?"

Isn't this the the equivalent of sending innocent people to their deaths?

"I'm sure there are possibilities of opening refugee camps in neighbouring countries," he says matter-of-factly. Consulting his world map from his Filofax, he emphasises that a Somali has to cross several countries before reaching Europe. Libya, for example, is a rich country that could deal with the problem itself, he insists.

Asylum should only be granted to officials who are practically guaranteed persecution or even death if they are returned. But Europe cannot afford to accept people who are fleeing because of mis-governance. It's not the duty of small countries like Malta to deal with the suffering of the world but that of the UN.

"We are not against European cooperation where immigration is concerned but it has been abundantly proven that opening borders without protection is dangerous - each country has to deal with the problem at a domestic level. Governments should always give preference to their own citizens."