by Ajay Taheem at Medium
A Far-Right surge in Europe, but are we really surprised? My Thoughts and what this means for European stability.
On 6th June 2024, European leaders and war veterans gathered on the beaches of Normandy to celebrate the 80-year-old D-day, a symbol of liberation from war, nationalism and fascism, that came so close to conquering Europe all those years ago. And yet, 72 hours later, Europe again faces fascism, nationalism and war, from within.
As the results of the EU Parliamentary election trickled through, the fears of many became a reality. The die had been cast, there was no going back from yet another, arguably more potent win for the far-right in Europe, and as we have seen from the reverberations throughout Europe (notably in France and Belgium), the consequences may be dire for the European Union and its member states.
So, I guess this begs the question, what actually happened, how did it happen, and what does this mean for the European Union? Boy oh boy, I am glad you asked…
Well, lets start with the winners: the far-right. Alternative für Deutschland, a party whose lead candidate recently stated that the Nazi’s main paramilitary force — the SS — were “not all criminals”, increased its vote from 11% to 15.9%, jumping ahead of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party. Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia won 28% of the vote in Italy, quadrupling its 2019 result, whilst in Austria, the far-right Freedom Party won with 25.7% of the vote. Perhaps the biggest coup of them all was France’s hard-right Rassemblement National, led by Jordan Bardella, which more than doubled the vote of incumbent President Macron’s pro-European party. More to come on that, later.
Was there anything to shout about for the centrists? Well, they did not collapse,…
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