The rise of far-right nationalist parties in Europe has stoked fear in many hearts in recent years, and joy into others’. Weary from poor economic conditions and mass immigration, many Europeans are frustrated with the status quo centrist parties, and are looking for alternatives.
With that in mind, twelve far-right parties from Europe formed a coalition to promote their interests ahead of last May’s EU parliamentary elections. Led by Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Northern League party, Matteo Salvini, they promote nationalist policies that oppose the euro, immigration, and freedom of labor movement, and support protectionism and de-globalization. Such an agenda could be harmful to the concept of the EU itself, if they had grabbed enough parliamentary seats.
However, there is a problem with the idea of nationalist parties working together: in short, they can’t. Such a lash-up betrays the basic principle upon which they are founded. With each party seeking its own nation’s interests, there will necessarily be conflicts between them, and these have already emerged. They differ over EU funding and EU support received, over immigration, and over whether Russia is really a threat. Poland’s and Hungary’s far-right parties, two of the largest in Europe, have refused to join; and some party leaders refuse to work with other party leaders.
Europeans will inevitably find out that some issues must be dealt with on a national-level (most issues), while others have to be addressed on a continental-level (climate, immigration). Trumpeting one level over the other is noise that only means one set of issues will go unaddressed. In the end, it seems that most Europeans realize this already. In the May elections, the far-right block won about 25% percent of parliamentary seats—up from 20% but not the 35% some polls suggested. While the far-right will be a force, it seems common sense remains the order of the day.
References:
Washington Post, “Europe’s far right seeks to unite—and infiltrate the E.U.,” 19 May 2019, A20.
Wikipedia, “Matteo Silvini,” 25 Oct 2019.