"The European Union is in need of profound reform because today, instead of protecting Europe and its heritage, instead of enabling the free development of European nations, it is itself becoming a source of problems, anxiety and uncertainty. Nations feel that they are slowly being stripped of their right to exercise their legitimate sovereign powers," the statement reads.

"The EU is becoming more and more a tool of radical forces that would like to carry out a cultural, religious transformation and ultimately a nationless construction of Europe, aiming to create a European superstate, destruct or cancel European tradition, transform basic social institutions and moral principles."

According to the declaration, all attempts to transform European institutions into bodies that take precedence over national constitutional institutions create chaos, undermine the sense of the treaties, question the fundamental role of member states' constitutions, and the resulting disputes over competences are in effect settled by the brutal imposition of the will of politically stronger entities on weaker ones. "This destroys the basis for the functioning of the European community as a community of free nations," the parties said.

"In a time when Europe is facing a serious demographic crisis with low birth rates and aging population, pro-family policymaking should be an answer instead of mass immigration," they added.

The declaration is signed by the following parties in the Identity and Democracy (ID) group and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ERC) group of the European Parliament – the French Rassemblement National, Italian parties Lega Per Salvini Premier and Fratelli d'Italia, Polish Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc, Spanish Vox, Austrian Freiheitliche Partei Osterreichs, Belgian Vlaams Belang, Danish Dansk Folkeparti, Estonian Conservative People's Party, Finnish Perussuomalaiset, Lithuanian Lietuvos lenku rinkimu akcija, Romanian Partidul National Taranesc Crestin Democrat, Greek Elliniki Lysi, Bulgarian Balgarsko nacionalno dvizenie, Dutch Ja21 as well as Hungarian Fidesz, which quit the European People's Party (EPP) group in March.

Estonian MEP Jaak Madison, who signed the joint document on behalf of EKRE, said that the declaration is the first step towards the consolidation of European national conservative parties.

"With this joint declaration, a basis has been laid for the creation of a potential new group in the European Parliament. This would be one of the biggest groups in the European Parliament, which would bring together Poles, Hungarians, Estonians, the French, Austrians, Danes, Finns, Italians and representatives of several more states in the European Parliament," Madison said.

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