A new group led by young anti-EU campaigners has been lambasting Brussels in the past year as a result of the bloc’s unforgivable mistakes in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The leader of the Odchod Czexit Movement, Matej Gregor, is only 18 years old but already he feels the country has been betrayed by the false promises made by the European Union 17 years ago.
Mr Gregor, joined by many others of his generation across the Czech Republic, told Express.co.uk Czech people are angry and demand for the EU state to be freed by Brussels’ shackles is growing.
He explained the movement, which he insists is not a political party and does not intend to become one for now, aims at intensifying an informative campaign in the Czech Republic about the true nature of the European Union and its benefits, or lack thereof.
He told this website: “When we joined the European union, they said you will have the same money as in Germany, we will build new hospitals. We will build new things in your country. They made really hard promises to our people.
“And after 16, 17 years in European Union, we didn’t get it.
“So people are angry. People are confused, people don’t know what the European Union is.
“And if they don’t know what the European Commission is…for people in the Czech Republic the European Union is something like the Soviets.
“It looks like one big country in Europe which has caused loss for our country, which has forbidden something for us and which caused a migration crisis in South Europe.
“So people don’t know many things about European. They see the European Union like the big bank.
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The anti-EU initiative began when Generation Frexit leader Charles-Henri Gallois, Italexit leader Gianluigi Paragone and former Brexit Party MEP Alexandra Phillips teamed up for a continental campaign to leave the EU.
Somos Espana leader Luis Carlos Nogues soon joined the quest to fight for Spain to leave the bloc.
The group of eurosceptics hope their Eurexit Movement can help start a debate about the benefits of quitting the European Union across the bloc.
Speaking to Express.co.uk in February, Mr Nogues said: “We are just getting started”.
The group of anti-EU leaders drafted a joint manifesto promoting individual states’ freedom to pursue real sovereignty while remaining allies with the EU.
Mr Nogues said the plan was to have a “transversal coalition” of nations in the respect of each others’ sovereign power to rule outside of the EU.
