The heads of leading far-right parties unveiled a plan for a new European "patriotic" party today which they said would defend the continent against Islam, immigrants and the impact of globalisation.
Heinz-Christian Strache, head of Austria's Freedom Party, said the group, whose backers include French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, would fight for a "federal Europe of fatherlands" and against centralised control from Brussels.
"Patriots of all European countries, unite," Mr Strache said at a news conference in Vienna with Mr Le Pen and the other leaders.
"Irresponsible mass immigration to Europe from outside Europe due to irresponsible politicians... is the problem in Europe."
Warning that Europe needed to protect itself against "Islamisation", Mr Strache said he, Mr Le Pen, and the leaders of Belgium's right-wing Vlaams Belang group and Bulgaria's Ataka, hoped to launch the new party by November 15 this year.
To do this, it needs support from seven parties in the European Union, Strache said - three more than it has so far.
All told, the new grouping aims to incorporate more than 10 parties, Mr Strache said, although he ruled out co-operation with Germany's far-right National Democratic Party (NPD).
Mr Strache, who in 2007 called Islam a "totalitarian system", said the new party's vision was dedicated to Europe's Christian traditions and included non-EU countries like Serbia and Russia - but not Turkey, which is seeking EU membership.
"We respect every other culture, but we love our own culture above all," he said. "We want a Europe that takes social responsibility, not one that encourages this globalisation madness."
The drive for a new right wing group follows the short-lived emergence of a far-right bloc in the European parliament called Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty (ITS) last year.
ITS dissolved itself on November 14 after Italian and Romanian members fell out in a row over race.
The new grouping opposed the predominantly Muslim Balkan region of Kosovo's efforts to break away from Serbia, which was being "pushed by the United States," Mr Strache said.
The new party has no name yet, but "European Patriotic Party" or "European Freedom Party" were working titles, he said.
Earlier this month, a member of Austria's Freedom Party unleashed a storm of protest when she described the prophet Mohammed as a child molester at a local election rally. The party won 11 per cent of votes in the last general election.