The Rise of Europe's Far Right (Again)

Europeans' fear of 'the other' never went away – it was simply hidden by years of prosperity.

In the past six months, three of Europe’s most influential leaders – German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and British Prime Minister David Cameron – all declared the policy of multiculturalism to be a failure. Two polls released earlier this month showed that nearly half of Britons would be willing to vote for a far-right party, while in France far-right leader Marine Le Pen is now more popular than Sarkozy. The rapid return of a xenophobic strain to Europe’s politics has some observers worried.

If there is one thing Europeans fear more these days than terrorism or radioactive fallout, it’s non-Europeans. According to a study by the German Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, about 50 per cent of all those polled in Germany, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Poland, and Hungary believe that too many immigrants – whether legal or not – live in their respective countries. The fear of the other permeates every country, even those with a very low percentage of illegal aliens.

Apart from Muslims – whose religion is seen by many as a religion of hate and intolerance – and Jews, this new-found hostility is also directed against any group that contradicts the expectations of what is considered right and good. This could be homosexuals, who still have to fight for their rights even though their situation has ostensibly improved over the last decade. The targets of the aggression are also refugees, who are often unrealistically labelled economic refugees, even though they flee from terror and oppression in their home countries. The revolutions in North Africa, some of which have toppled dictatorships that lasted decades, thanks to generous European support, leave many Europeans uneasy. While they generally voice support for the oppressed, the fear that the instability could lead to even more immigrants knocking on their doors.

Even though most Jewish communities in Europe are small, the same old prejudices are still voiced – the Jews are said to have too much influence, and they use the Holocaust to pressure governments and misuse the feeling of guilt to maximize their gains.

But it is not only the fear of others in general. It is also the re-emergence of conservative and reactionary ideas, such as the role of women, which is particularly a problem in the eastern European countries. People who depend on social services, especially the unemployed, are targeted as “proof” of the unwillingness of those of a “lesser breed” to work and contribute to society.

Unemployment, once seen as a disaster many faced through no fault of their own, has been transformed to a problem for which people are personally responsible. The willingness to help and provide basic support has decreased accordingly.

Europeans are moving to the right. This is not just a consequence of 9/11, but more of a general uneasiness, a feeling of being unable to cope with the challenges of a world that is changing very fast indeed. The resentments are deep-rooted, but have been buried in the years of prosperity and stability that followed the collapse of the former Eastern bloc.

So, will Europe see right-wing and extremist parties on the rise? Yes and no. On the one hand, short-term and limited success on the part of far-right parties in some countries, even those with a long-standing democratic tradition, can be expected. But their potential is limited because those who support anti-democratic movements tend not to vote. They are frustrated with politics because they feel left out, so it will be difficult for right-wing parties to get them to the ballot box.

Constantly decreasing participation in elections is a phenomenon across Europe. The focus should be on the ever-growing number of non-voters rather than the few per cent of people actually voting for right-wing parties. These parties may reach astonishing numbers in public opinion polls, but they tend not to be able to transfer these successes on paper to elections. If they actually manage to do so, they tend to be unable to improve the lives of their constituents and quickly show their inability to cope with the facts and constraints of real-world politics, alienating their own voters.

What is indeed worrisome are the reactions of politicians such as Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, and David Cameron – who are not part of the far-right spectrum – to the growing chauvinism, sexism, and racism. Instead of counteracting, they oftentimes embrace these stances – appealing to their citizens’ fears and prejudices – to fish for votes even in the darkest of pools. The situation is not much helped by self-proclaimed mainstream intellectuals presenting highly questionable arguments on the downfall of western civilization if the "others” are not stopped in their tracks, thus fuelling the fire even more.