The big overview. Why they come to power, in which countries they strike, how to stop them: crises feed far-right parties

She explains to us: “Before right-wing extremist and right-wing extremist parties entered European parliaments and formed coalitions or governments, they were already visible and successful in other parts of society, such as on the streets during protests and acts of violence, on the internet or in public debates.”

The game with fear

Peoples attribute the success of justice to crises such as migration, terrorist attacks, Corona and the war in Ukraine. “We know from research that crises feed the extreme right.”

Far-right parties are good crisis communicators. They played on people’s fears and spread distorted stories that stuck in people’s minds. Völker: “If other parties and media adopt these stories and interpretations of the extreme right, they contribute to their spread and normalization.”

Völker locates national differences in the electorate of right-wing extremist parties – depending on their history, political system and party offer. In addition to economic factors, so-called cultural factors also play a role: how strong is one’s own national identity, how much do people feel threatened by other cultural influences and how strongly are prejudices and racist images of man anchored.

Ban extreme parties?

A ban on far-right parties, as demanded this week by a CDU politician in Germany, should be critically discussed. “If it is not extensively tested and sound and does not lead to success with certainty, there is a risk that one party will emerge stronger from the process.”

This was demonstrated in Greece with the example of the “Golden Dawn”, which was banned in 2020. In June of this year, the hitherto virtually unknown right-wing extremist party Spartiaten made it to parliament as the fifth strongest party.

Teresa Völker emphasizes the importance of other measures that prevent the spread of racist and national-völkish views through education, democracy promotion or prevention work. Völker: “The most important thing is the political and discursive delineation, i.e. a consistently implemented protective wall against the extreme right.”

Here the right is emerging

In the following list, we show in which countries the right is represented in government or, according to polls, is on the rise.

Finland has not come to rest after the vote of Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin (37) at the beginning of April. The conservative winner and Marin successor Petteri Orpo (53) had to fall back on the right-wing populist Finnish party when forming a government. This was done reluctantly, but without what is now the second strongest party, a coalition would have been difficult.

Barely in office, the government was shaken over the history of Finnish party members. Economics Minister Vilhelm Junnila (41) resigned after just ten days due to a scandal involving contacts in the far-right scene and jokes about Nazi symbols – in particular the number 88, which stands for Heil Hitler.

Now the party chairman and finance minister Riikka Purra (46) comes into the picture. Reason: 15-year-old comments appeared from a far-right forum that Purra allegedly wrote. The messages denigrate Islam and immigrants from Somalia. Purra has not denied or confirmed the reports.

There were grim prophecies when Giorgia Meloni (46) won the election last year and became prime minister. As promised during the election campaign, together with the right-wing Lega and Forza Italia, it is pursuing a tough migration policy and is blocking boats from aid organizations that want to land migrants. Anyone using anglicisms in official documents should be fined up to €100,000.

In government she fights cockfights with Lega boss Matteo Salvini (50) for influence on the right. There are allegations of fraudulent bankruptcy and accounting fraud against its tourism minister. Internationally, however, Meloni surprised positively. She is clearly committed to NATO and the EU – not least because billions are flowing from Brussels for the Corona treatment. And: A few days ago, Meloni announced that he would bring half a million migrants into the country over the next three years to combat the labor shortage.

After Viktor Orban (60) has been prime minister of Hungary again since 2010, he continuously turns the screw. Critics accuse him of dismantling democracy, ignoring media freedom and changing electoral law in favor of his national-conservative Fidesz.

The party rules in coalition with the Christian Democratic People’s Party, which has moved closer to Fidesz over the past 30 years and also represents Catholic fundamentalism.

Orban is considered a problem child in the EU. Due to a lack of compliance with the rule of law and a lack of determination in the fight against corruption, it blocked the disbursement of €6.3 billion in grants.

Like Hungary, Poland’s national-conservative government has repeatedly confronted the EU. The European Court of Justice recently condemned Poland for reforms that limit the independence of the judiciary.

There will be elections in Poland next autumn. A large majority of parliamentary groups in the EU parliament are calling for an observation mission out of concern “that the elections will not be conducted to the highest democratic standards”.

On the other hand, Poland plays a central role in the Ukraine war and cooperates closely with Brussels and NATO: no other country has taken in so many refugees, and almost no other country has supported Ukraine with arms and other aid.

In Sweden, the right-wing Swedish Democrats became the second strongest party last year – partly due to the neglected integration of migrants caused by previous governments, which led to serious crime.

Although the Swedish Democrats are not involved in the middle-class government, they have a big voice. Under this pressure, the government has increased immigration barriers and allowed the construction of new nuclear power plants.

A new center coalition has been in power since December 2022. Unlike in Sweden, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (45) is not dependent on support from the right. But: the right is on the rise, in Copenhagen there are now three right-wing populist parties that together have received every sixth vote.

If there were a presidential election today, Marine Le Pen (54) of the Rassemblement National would dethrone incumbent Emmanuel Macron (45). The most recent banlieue youth riots and Macron’s pension reform play into her hands.

In Germany, the AfD is on the rise. In polls it is currently second behind the CDU and ahead of the ruling SPD. In June, it acquired a top municipal office in the Sonneberg district of Thuringia for the first time since it was founded ten years ago.

The Saxon CDU member of the Bundestag Marco Wanderwitz (47) proposes radical measures: he wants to ban the AfD. In a letter to his parliamentary group, he points out that the AfD even leads the polls in the east. He writes: “Not because of this, but because of their right-wing radicalism and the magnitude of this danger, especially in the new federal states, I have long been campaigning for an injunction procedure.”

The right-wing FPÖ, which was already represented in the government under former ÖVP chancellor Sebastian Kurz (36), is currently Austria’s strongest party, according to studies. If there were an election today, its chairman Herbert Kickl (54) would be chancellor.

Early elections will be held in Spain on Sunday, as the ruling left suffered a huge defeat in regional elections on May 28. Polls show that incumbent Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (51) is likely to resign.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo (61) of the conservative Partido Popular is on course for victory. He will likely depend on the right-wing populist and national-conservative Vox party to form a government. Since there are such coalitions at regional level, cooperation at national level is no longer taboo.