Why is the far-right rising in Europe?
This article is a critique about the rising far-right nationalist and patriotic movement of European nations.
Ali Ege Hancıgaz
Europe, as the continent that we all know as peaceful and accepting for any other, is now going into a new direction: the far-right. The countries of Europe are all in a new situation with their politics, considering their economies and socio-cultural plans. Germany, Sweden, Hungary, France, and the UK show in their polls that far-right parties have risen up since the immigration and asylum plans.
When we take a look at Germany’s situation, AfD (Alternative for Germany) has been rising since the party was established. AfD shows that the party is going with a populist right-wing direction. Polls show that, since the administration from SDP (Social Democratic Party of Germany) to CDU/CSU (Christian Democratic Union coalition), AfD has doubled their votes, passing the last government of Olaf Scholz’s popularity and votes.
But how does a country like Germany, and the German people, show great support to such a party? In 2015, with the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the European Union accepted over a million refugees. Accepting the most refugees, Germany faced social tensions and political backlash because of the undocumented immigration. Now the German people show strong opposition to this crisis with the AfD, even though none of the other parties want a coalition with them.
With the immigration crisis that happened in 2015–2016, many European countries accepted refugees after Germany, such as France, Sweden, and Italy. After these efforts and humanitarian aid, with an unexpected response from the refugees, the polls show that people do not want them anymore. The kinds of parties with a far-right direction and plans — for instance, RN (National Rally) in France, Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) in Italy, the Sweden Democrats, and, even after Brexit, Reform UK — are great examples.
People have diverse opinions on refugees, on the economy, or on parties, but even though these parties are Eurosceptic on paper, they don’t want to leave the European Union. For the economy, national leftists are also rising. So, in conclusion: although Europe isn’t in a clear economic situation, socio-culturally, people want nationalist or at least patriotic parties.
