Europe’s Rising Far Right: A Guide to the Most Prominent Parties

Amid a migrant crisis, sluggish economic growth and growing disillusionment with the European Union, far-right parties — some longstanding, others newly formed — have been achieving electoral success in a number of European nations. Here is a quick guide to eight prominent far-right parties that have been making news; it is not a comprehensive list of all the Continent’s active far-right groups. The parties are listed by order of the populations of the countries where they are based.

Germany

Alternative for Germany

The Alternative for Germany party, started three years ago as a protest movement against the euro currency, won up to 25 percent of the vote in German state elections in March, challenging Germany’s consensus-driven politics. Last fall, support for the party was reportedly in the 5 percent range, but shot up after the New Year’s Eve sexual assaults in Cologne. The party “attracted voters who were anti-establishment, anti-liberalization, anti-European, anti-everything that has come to be regarded as the norm,” said Sylke Tempel of the German Council on Foreign Relations. Frauke Petry, 40, the party’s leader, has said border guards might need to turn guns on anyone crossing a frontier illegally. The party’s recently adopted policy platform says “Islam does not belong in Germany” and calls for a ban on the construction of mosques.

Russian “clandestine funding” of EU far-right: How worried should we be?

The U.S. is launching its own probe into Moscow-funded European radical political parties and populist groups the Kremlin aims to use to undermine NATO and sanctions unity, according to Ukraine Today.

Washington is concerned that cracks in the EU could undermine NATO and international sanctions following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. A major review is underway into what The Telegraph calls “Russian clandestine funding,” Ukraine Today reported.

MAPPED: Shocking march of the far-right across Europe as migration fears reach fever pitch

A map of countries where the far-right have made gains

 

 

FAR-RIGHT parties are on the march across Europe as the unprecedented migrant crisis gripping the continent fuels a surge in support for nationalist movements.

This shocking map shows how anti-immigration campaigners have enjoyed huge gains in this year’s elections, whilst thousands have taken to the streets to protest against the overwhelming influx of migrants and refugees.

From Greece to Germany and Switzerland to Sweden, far-right protestors and parties have stormed the mainstream of European politics as voters rebel against years of predominantly socialist rule.

The Greek Elections Will Not Make A Difference

Alexis Tsipras hailed a victory for his left-wing Syriza party after winning a second general election in less than 9 months. However, the many Greeks I have met with say they expect nothing to change. Before the vote, I reported that the Greeks I spoke with said that they did not expect anything to change because the previous government never did as they said.

Greece election: Alexis Tsipras is the clear winner but still needs coalition partner for Syriza

Expect Greece to be a complete vassal state now that Alexis has sealed victory.

 

The campaign was a cliffhanger, but Alexis Tsipras is celebrating a second election victory, won despite months of turbulence and a disastrous policy U-turn which saw him abandon his attempt to defy Brussels and instead sign up for another harsh Brussels bailout.

Despite a strong campaign by its new leader Vangelis Meimarakis, the conservative New Democracy party improved only slightly on its performance in January, and with 50 per cent of the vote counted, was trailing Mr Tsipras’s Syriza by 28 per cent to 35.5 per cent.

Moscow and the Nazi International

Alexander Dugin, the Russian geopolitical theorist and advisor to President Putin, has said that the twentieth century was “the century of ideology.” It was, as Nietzsche predicted, a century in which ideas (and ideologies) warred against one another. The three warring factions were, in order of their appearance: liberalism (of the Left and Right), communism (as well as social democracy), and fascism (including Hitler’s National Socialism). These three ideologies fought each other “to the death, creating, in essence, the entire dramatic and bloody political history of the twentieth century.” According to Dugin, liberalism came out the winner by the end of the last century. Yet victories of this kind are rarely permanent. In fact, Dugin tells us that liberalism has already disintegrated into “postmodernity.” With its focus on the individual, Dugin argues that liberalism has led to globalization, and globalization means that man is “freed from his ‘membership’ in a community and from any collective identity….” This happened because a mass of human beings, “comprised entirely of individuals, is naturally drawn toward universality and seeks to become global and unified.” Even now this impetus toward globalization coincides with the glorification of total freedom “and the independence of the individual from any kind of limits, including reason, morality, identity … discipline, and so on.” The result, says Dugin, is Francis Fukuyama’s “End of History.” But let us not be fooled, Dugin explains. History doesn’t really end. What has really happened, in fact, is the realization that liberalism’s triumph has been a disaster for humanity. It is a disaster for the individual because the individual has lost his moorings. It is a disaster for freedom, because we are now under the “tyranny of the majority.” It is a disaster for our economy, because spoliation is the emerging market principle. And those who wish to preserve their racial, national, or religious identities are set down as enemies by a political correctness as deluded as it is bloodless.

One Port, Two Worlds: China Seeks Dominance in Athens Harbor

Russia and China are both successfully putting a wedge between America and Europe. With their tightening grip on Athens, Europe is threatened in its own homeland and will eventually decide to turn their backs on America. The alternative is to risk potential military conflict with Russia. In the future you will likely see a third marriage between Russia and Europe — and Russian military bases in Greece.

 

A Chinese executive with shipping company Cosco has helped transform part of Athen’s Port of Piraeus into a success story. The multinational firm now has a controversial plan to acquire the whole facility and put it on track to join the ranks of Hamburg and Rotterdam.

One could argue that China’s long path to Piraeus, Greece, began on April 27, 1961. It’s the day Mao Zedong founded the communist state’s first freight company, the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO). The Great Leap Forward, Mao’s plan for industrialization, had proven to be a disaster at the time, leaving millions dead or starving. With Cosco, China had its eyes on overseas markets.

Almost 54 years later, the company is steering toward a major prize in Greece. After lengthy wavering, the Greek government– comprised of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, his far-left Syriza party and the right-wing populist Independent Greeks — has announced it will be selling the majority of its share in Athens’ Piraeus Port Authority. So far, Cosco is the most promising bidder.