The support for far-right parties in Europe, particularly in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, hit an all-time high and concerns have been mounting as the European Parliament prepares to hold elections in June, according to a professor at 29 Mayıs University in Istanbul.
While far-right populist 'Brothers of Italy' party, Giorgia Meloni became the country’s prime minister in 2022, French far-right National Front (RN) leader Marine Le Pen obtained record-high votes in the last elections in France, and far-right Geert Wilders’ victory in the Netherlands shocked everyone, according to Professor Dr. Özgür Ünal Eriş, who spoke to experts about the upcoming EP elections.
The rise of the far-right in Europe challenges the mainstream political parties in Europe, amid the surge in migration, economic uncertainty in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, aging population, cultural concerns and emphasis on national identity and this rise will continue as long as the aforementioned problems are not addressed, according to Prof. Dr. Giray Saynur Derman of Marmara University.
Meanwhile, Prof. Dr. Aylin Ünver Noi from Haliç University said the "success" of far-right parties in the EU member-states, including Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden, brings many to ask the question of whether their rise will continue in the upcoming EP elections.
Noting that the surge of far-right in Europe dates back to the post-Cold War era, Dr. Ünver Noi said one of the reasons in this surge was linked to the increase in crime rates and migration, amid the migrants’ integration problems. She continued by saying that currently, these problems still exist, with new additions, including "cultural threat," "economic threat," and "terrorism threat."
The terrorism threat has especially been connected with Daesh terrorist threats, which fueled xenophobia and Islamophobia in the EU.
Dr. Ünver Noi also noted that the far-right parties in Europe share a range of ideologies, including anti-EU integration, their support for neo-mercantilist economic policies, tighter border policies, anti-migrant policies and xenophobia and Islamophobia.
With just months left to the EU elections, the continent is observing a worrying rise in nationalism and Eurosceptic policies among right-wing parties that are increasingly divided.
Voter surveys show growing support for their platforms, which will likely translate into bigger influence over the bloc's political agenda.
In the European Parliament, far-right forces are settled into two political groups which are mostly rivals and have failed at attempts to join together.
One is the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). The other is the Identity and Democracy group (ID).
"ECR is pro-Ukraine, pro-enlargement, pro-NATO. ID is ambivalent about Russia, anti-Atlanticist, anti-enlargement," explained Peggy Corlin, analyst at the Robert Schuman Foundation.
ECR counts Brothers of Italy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right party, in its ranks, along with Spain's Vox, Poland's populist Law and Justice (PiS), and France's Reconquete.
ID is made up of France's National Rally (RN) whose face is Marine Le Pen, as well as Italy's League party, Germany's anti-immigrant AfD, Austria's FPO and Geert Wilders' PVV Freedom Party from the Netherlands.
"ECR is more integrated into the EU political game and in the institutional game," Corlin said. It has two main figureheads: Meloni and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
ID, in contrast, has up to now been treated as something of a political pariah by the other parliamentary groupings.