Dreaming of Europe: What to do with rising ultra-right party influence in the EU?
It seems that some politicians in the European mainstream are slowly beginning to wake up from their democratic dream. For the time being it’s just a few individuals, but at least some are starting to realize that the growth in voter preference for extremist political parties in Europe is a real danger.
This awakening includes the recognition that the strengthening of extremists in politics is part of an ongoing trend in civilization. However, we will probably have to wait a little longer for more European politicians to understand this.
Reasons for ultra-right success
Cecilia Malmström, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, is one politician blazing the trail to this realization for the others. She has expressed concern that next year’s European Parliament (EP) elections will strengthen ultra-right parties, which will lead to their growing influence over the decisions taken by that body.
Malmström made her remarks during a visit to Athens, an important place with respect to this topic. It is Greece in particular where Golden Dawn, probably Europe’s strongest neo-Nazi party, is seated in the national parliament.
Even the murder of left-wing activist and popular singer Pavlos Fisas by a member of Golden Dawn has not detracted much from voter preference for the party, nor has the subsequent prosecution of the party’s leaders on charges of belonging to a criminal organization. Malmström has also noted that the disturbing intensification of "Fascist, racist and xenophobic forces" has affected not just Greece, but also many other European countries.
"Some of these parties have already existed for quite some time, others are newer, but they are all gaining strength by exploiting the crisis," Malmström has pointed out. This statement reflects matters that have long been understood, as there have been predictions for some time now of a trend away from democracy toward radical "solutions" revolving around a predetermined enemy.
In Western Europe, that "enemy" is immigrants, primarily Muslim ones, while in the post-communist countries the "enemy" is Romani people. From Malmström’s warning that some of these extremist parties have existed for quite some time, we can indirectly also infer the fact that extremism is not being strengthening only by the financial (economic) crisis, but that other phenomena have been contributing to it as well.
In addition to globalization, for example, one contributing factor is that democratic politicians themselves are discrediting democracy because they are concerned solely with their own personal benefit irrespective of its impact on the general good (a crisis of morals or politics). Other reasons for the increase in insecurity and people’s subsequent frustration are a result of the "turning point" we are all now living through.
Historically such transitions have always seen insecurity about the future and changes to people’s values (currently there is a rejection of humanism, respect and tolerance toward others). Such transitions also change people’s views of the meaning or purpose of interpersonal relationships and morality.
Concern for the fate of the EU
Malmström is not the only politician justifiably concerned about the rising influence of Euro-phobic parties on the fate of the European Union, including the potential for blockage or even the dissolution of the EU. This should not be surprising.
The Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders and the head of the French National Front, Marine Le Pen, have said they are willing to join forces during the upcoming EP elections. Wilders already has met with several leaders of ultra-right parties throughout Europe.
"The anti-EU coalition is almost here," Wilders posted to his Twitter account after visiting the head of the Austrian Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of the Flemish right-wing separatists in Belgium, Filip Dewinter, and Marine Le Pen in France. A different kind of danger may threaten the future from the ultra-right as well, namely, that they could exploit a united Europe to implement their own "European dream."
Political scientist Miroslav Mareš writes in his study "Transnational collaboration of the ultra-right in Central and Eastern Europe" that collaboration among the ultra-right in Central Europe is disrupted for the time being only by the grudges between Hungarian and Slovak nationalists. He follows the collaboration of right-wing extremist parties in the current Central and Eastern European environment as well as the participation of political parties from that part of Europe in both EU-wide and global ultra-right networks and organizations.
As Mareš has written, in 2009 the Czech Workers’ Party (Dělnická strana – DS) initiated intensive relations with the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), creating the prerequisites for contact between the neo-Nazi scenes of both states. In 2011 both parties adopted the joint Riesa Manifesto on Human Rights Violations, which includes the following:
"The level of public debt and the crucial problems of the eurozone are proof of the total collapse of the European Union project. The concept of a ‘European Union’ will end up an empty shell. On that basis, we want to inspire citizens and the public to begin a new, free, national European project. We believe in a new start for Europe."
A "new start for Europe", with a single leader at the helm under the banner of national revolution – this, with all of the expected pathos, is how we might describe the dream of the neo-Nazi segment of the ultra-right. The neo-Nazis are take their stand on the idea of the nation-state and are at perfectly home with such chauvinism.
However, the idea of ruling the world, inherited from Hitler, is still with them today. We must realize that in the 21st century these dreamers might essentially have a much easier time of it than Hitler’s supporters did.
Europe is, to a significant degree, already united, and with a great degree of democracy. We don’t need to worry too much about the functioning of its mechanisms.
Disagreement with the rise in extremism
Few EU politicians are involved in reflecting on how to find the way out of this mess. Few of them even have the casual overview of the issue necessary to recognize all of these connections.
Malmström at least indicated how we might begin when she spoke on this topic in January on the eve of expert discussions in Brussels about the fight against extremism and violence motivated by xenophobia:
"We will not defeat violent extremism unless we take on the demagogic, populist propaganda that creates the basis for ideologically- motivated violence in Europe. Never since WWII have extremist, populist forces wielded such great influence over national parliaments as they do today. More leading representatives in Europe must express their disagreement with the growth of extremism. We must have the courage to stand up to these forces and protect our shared European values."
Unfortunately, this is not happening anywhere in Europe, to say nothing of in the Czech Republic. Here democrats not only do not condemn the growth in extremism, they often contribute to it through their demagoguery, populism, and racist remarks (see, for example, the most recent Czech Senate session).
Populist and xenophobic statements by democratic politicians have also found a home in Western Europe, with France deporting immigrants who are citizens of EU Member States while Britain and Germany design similar measures. Refugees from Africa heading to Europe are dying on the seas in droves.
Once again, Europe doesn’t know what to do with itself. It was precisely such fecklessness, accompanied by phenomena similar to those of today, that led us to world war twice during the 20th century.
The new old solutions
In Germany they are offering old solutions in a new guise; once again they are attempting to ban the NDP. The German Federal Council, representing the 16 federated states, has filed a new motion for the party to be banned with the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
The German Government and Parliament have not, of course, joined this lawsuit. In their more than 250-page brief, the authors of the suit attempt to emphasize the parallels between the NPD ideology and that of Hitler’s National Socialist "Third Reich", including what they see as an "fundamental identity" between them that justifies a ban on the party.
German counter-intelligence calls the NPD an anti-Semitic, racist and revisionist party striving to liquidate the democratic order. I have nothing against one-time solutions such as dissolving parties that want to wring the necks of democrats, to coin a phrase – this is a natural defense of democracy.
The problem, however, lies in the fact that this solution is being attempted within the framework of just one state, not the EU as a whole. If the joint voice of EU and national politicians against extremism were to be heard Europe-wide, it could impact the European social atmosphere – who knows, it might even impact the atmosphere in the Czech Republic.
That would bring us to the vision of a third dream for Europe. Readers, sleep well.
Examples of the rise of ultra-right parties in Europe
GREECE
At the moment the strongest ultra-right party in Europe is probably the Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, which entered parliament in June 2012 and occupies 18 seats. The politics of Golden Dawn are based on chauvinism, specifically in fulminating against immigrants and minorities in general. The party also denies the Holocaust and the existence of the gas chambers in the death camps.
FRANCE
According to public opinion polls, in France the party with the highest voter preference today is the extremist National Front, led by Marine Le Pen, daughter of the founder of the party, with 24 % of the vote. The traditional democratic parties that have usually governed France, the conservatives of the Union for the People’s Movement and the currently-governing Socialists of President François Hollande, trail the National Front in the polls and are losing voters despite engaging in obvious populism against Romani immigrants. In 2009 the followers of Le Pen won 6.3 % of the vote. While the National Front has abandoned extremist rhetoric, its politics against immigrants and minorities have not softened.
FINLAND
Nationalists have, of course, recently scored successes in the Scandinavian states as well. In Finland the Real Finns party is becoming more and more popular. The party first entered parliament in 1999 with one seat. Last year it won 39. The party has been labeled a nationalist, populist formation. It inveighs against the EU, the euro and the instruction of Swedish in the schools and calls for stricter immigration policies and tougher sentencing for felony crimes.
HUNGARY
The Central European type of Fascism or neo-Nazism is most visible in Hungary. In the most recent parliamentary elections, the "Movement for a Better Hungary" (Jobbik) made it into parliament there for the first time. The party is anti-Semitic and also wants to introduce a ban on "the promotion of sexual deviancy" in the country, which is aimed against LGBT people. The extremist National Guard is linked to the Jobbik party. That paramilitary group has been banned by the courts but has won favour, among other things, for its fight against "gypsy crime".
THE NETHERLANDS
Geert Wilders’ Free People’s Party is represented in the Dutch Parliament, having won 17 % of the vote in the most recent elections. It could win even more votes next year. The party is leading a massive campaign aginst the alleged Islamization of the country and calling for immigration restrictions. Wilders sparked controversy and criticism when he called for the Dutch to call the police should they see "incorrect" behavior committed by people from Central and Eastern Europe. In the past Wilders has been charged with inciting anti-Muslim hatred and has publicly compared the Koran to Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. He has also labeled Islam a Fascist, terrorist ideology.
RUSSIA
In the Russian parliamentary elections, Vladimir Zhirinovskij’s nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LPDR) regularly scores points and is popular among extremists and people who believe Russia has lost her position as a global superpower. The LPDR rails against minorities and all non-Russian elements in society. Zhirinovskij’s indiscriminate attacks against his opponents, his nationalist remarks and his rioting are an infamous part of the Russian political scene.
SWEDEN
In 2010, the Swedish Democrats (SD) got into parliament for the first time ever. This party calls itself nationalist, demands a halt to immigration and labels Islam as the greatest threat to Sweden since the end of WWII. The SD drew attention to itself with election ads in which a group of Muslim women in burqas pushing baby carriages cuts in front of a white-skinned Swedish pensioner standing in line for welfare. The party also rails against LGBT people and is infamous for its euro-skepticism. Analysts label the SD an ultra-right party, while human rights defenders and left-wing formations label it a neo-Nazi party. It is currently doing its best to get rid of its image as an extremist party.
GERMANY
In Germany, extremists are not represented at federal level. The neo-Nazi, populist NPD, however, is represented in some state legistlatures (Mecklenburg-Upper Pomorania and Saxony). In the September federal elections, the NPD won 1.3 % of the vote. German counter-intelligence has labeled the NPD an anti-Semitic, racist and revisionist party that is attempting to liquidate the democratic order. (The Czech Workers’ Social Justice Party or DSSS closely cooperates with the German NPD but has so far won only one seat on a municipal council in the town of Krupka.)
BULGARIA
In 2005 the nationalist, ultra-right party Attack scored a surprising victory in the elections. Through its usual nationalist slogan of "Bulgaria for Bulgarians", the party inveighs against membership in the EU, speaks against Jews, Romani people and Turks, and protests against international institutions "sucking the blood" of Bulgaria. The party also succeeded in the most recent parliamentary elections in 2009. It gained attention last year when its promoters in Sofia assaulted Bulgarian Turkish Muslims during prayer.
SLOVAKIA
In the regional elections, the infamous Slovak Fascist Marián Kotleba has become the governor of the Banská Bystrica Region. His People’s Party – Our Slovakia has recorded a 100 % growth in voter preference since then. In a September survey, the party won 1.7 % of the vote, rising to 3.4 % today. Even though the Slovak Fascists still have no chance of getting into parliament, they would be able to recieve financial contributions from the state with those kind of results next time. Kotleba is infamous for his actions and remarks against Roma, whom he regularly speaks of as "parasites".
