Editorial|The extreme right is gaining ground in many European countries: the FPÖ won in Austria, the National Coalition was successful in the summer in France, the AfD is strong in Germany…
IThe Austrian parliamentary elections ended on Sunday with the victory of the far-right Freedom Party, or FPÖ. The FPÖ’s victory was even greater than expected: the party collected almost a third of the votes cast.
The rise of the FPÖ fits into the pan-European picture. The populist far-right is rising in many countries other than Austria.
The far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, has done well in the German state elections this fall, especially in eastern Germany. Italy’s current prime minister’s party, the Brothers of Italy, described as a populist radical right, positions itself on the right side of the political field. In Sweden, the Sweden Democrats have risen to the ranks of the major parties. In the early parliamentary elections held in France this summer, the far-right National Alliance was successful.
The European far-right is more clearly populist than far-right. The far-right parties differ greatly from one another in different countries, and they do not follow any unified far-right ideology. They are most clearly united by populism: the parties believe that the world is divided into a corrupt elite and some kind of “real people”. The important thing is to be against something.
European far-right – or national conservative populist – parties are united by anti-immigration. The factor that separates them is their attitude towards Russia. What qualifies as a Russia line for Germany’s AfD is not valid for, for example, basic Finns or Italian brothers. The differences make it difficult for the European cooperation of the far right.
Qthe chances of conservative and far-right parties to gain government responsibility are still low in many countries – even in Austria, the country’s other parties have no great desire for a coalition with the FPÖ. The extreme right still has power. The views of the populist far-right have become normalized, and they have taken over the policies and language of many European right-wing parties.
The editorials are HS’s positions on a current topic. The articles are prepared by HS’s editorial department, and they reflect the magazine principle line.
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