Everything’s all right

We used to value tolerance, multiculturalism and international cooperation in Europe but it increasingly seems that over the last two decades we have witnessed the slow return of fascism and we are doing very little, if anything at all, to stop it.

Currently, there is an undeniable predominance of centre-right governments within the EU, but more importantly far right parties seem to be doubling, and in some cases quadrupling, their votes after every election. These far right parties, which include Le Pen’s Front National in France, Wilders’ Freedom Party in the Netherlands, and Bossi’s Northern League, have taken an aggressive stance against immigration, the EU and Islam in what they are calling a ‘defence of their threatened national identity’. Surprisingly, these parties are the more ‘moderate’ of the far right when you consider that Barbara Rosenkranz of Austria’s FPÖ has called for the law banning pro-Nazi speech to be repealed and that Timo Soini of Finland’s True Finns has openly expressed his belief that Finnish women should be discouraged from pursuing higher education so that they can preoccupy themselves with making more Finnish babies. As Europe prepares to roll out the red carpet and welcome fascism back into our lives we need to take a step back and ask: who is voting for these parties, and why?

In a recent seminar the rising popularity of extreme right-wing parties in Europe came up and the consensus within the room seemed to be that voters were dissatisfied with the economy and needed someone to blame. The current governments had welcomed immigrants into the country which ‘meant’ fewer jobs and higher taxes. These governments then signed on for EU membership which was supposed to benefit the voters, but instead they were stripped of their national identity and told to be ‘European’. Immigration, Europeanisation and globalisation were not providing the benefits the voters had been told they would enjoy; they were losing patience.

The far right had the perfect opportunity to take advantage of these sentiments and told the people to do away with the ideals of tolerance, multiculturalism and international cooperation that the current governments were promoting and instead take a harsh, Eurosceptic anti-immigration stance. People were angrier than expected and it was only a matter of time before the parties of the far right saw their share of the votes skyrocket.

 Other parties have also begun to notice the rising popularity of the far right and in an attempt to secure more votes they have allowed themselves to also lean in the direction of the right-wing. In France the banning of the burka and the expulsion of the Roma are just two perceived examples of a centre-right government embracing extremist ideals. The far right have without a doubt infiltrated the European political stage and it is time to worry.

Admittedly, nationalism is integral to any state’s survival and a country’s citizens should always come first in the eyes of its government, who unfortunately have lost touch with the needs of the electorate and instead focus on fulfilling international obligations. For this reason the presence of far right parties can be appreciated, but we must also be careful that we do not allow ourselves to be fooled by what they are promising us and forget what we would actually get if they ever win a majority in government. We cannot forget that Hitler and Mussolini once appealed to the desires of the masses only to wreak havoc in their countries and across Europe. These far-right parties also echo anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi sentiments. If we allow them to rise to power we will regret it.

We may not be part of continental Europe but Britain is not immune to this phenomenon. The existence of the BNP, though not as prominent as many other European far right parties, cannot be ignored either; as anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic sentiments rise in the UK, the number of votes the BNP receives might increase in turn. Moreover, many far-right parties have won seats in the European Parliament, which holds considerable legislative and economic power within the EU, and thus within the UK.

 The far right has resurfaced and fascism is following closely behind it; are we going to stop it or are we going to allow Europe to fall back into the 1930s?

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