Showing posts with label right-wing populists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label right-wing populists. Show all posts

Friday, June 04, 2021

Right-wing Populists and the EU | DW Documentary (2019)

2019 looks to be a good year for right-wing populists in Europe. Be it Italy, France, Hungary, Poland or Germany, many European countries are experiencing a shift to the right. Right-wing populists are expected to make significant gains in the European Parliament elections this spring.

Right-leaning party representatives have an agenda: they want to dismantle to the European Union. Guido Reil of Germany’s AfD party believes the best way to do that is by going to Brussels. "It is easier to destroy something from the inside than from the outside." Joseph Sauvage, a cafe owner in Denain in northern France, backs Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National party, because he doesn't want to see people in Denain abandoned. "When the factories closed, the small shops closed. There is nothing here, economically speaking. No work. It’s also changed politically. It used to be communist. But that changed with the end of opportunities for the working class." His view of migration has also changed. "Immigrants are entitled to the same social benefits without ever having worked here." Like Joseph Sauvage, Luca Davide, a member of Italy’s Northern League party, says he's had enough of living in a run-down block in a small city full of foreigners. "We don't need drug dealers, we don't need illegals! We just want to live here in peace and safety." In early February 2018, a right-wing supporter targeted Africans in a drive-by shooting rampage. According to Northern League leader Matteo Salvini, the EU shares "moral responsibility” for the act because it "filled the country with illegal foreigners." Messages like these are met with support. Evidence of just how a state’s society and institutions change when right-wing populists come to power is evident in Hungary. Many judges, organizations that support refugees or human rights, scientists, and journalists speak of massive restrictions in Orban's "illiberal democracy". But a lot of young Hungarians starting to push back.


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Euroskeptic Union: Right-Wing Populists Forge EU Alliance

Geert Wilders, head of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV)
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Right-wing populists are trying to create a powerful faction in the European Parliament. Leading the efforts are Geert Wilders from the Netherlands and Marine le Pen of France -- and their initiative has big implications for Europe.

The press room in the Dutch parliament building in The Hague has been fully booked up for days for the scheduled meeting on Wednesday afternoon. The office responsible for handing out media accreditation already has a long waiting list. The meeting will be broadcast live on Dutch TV, and the whole world will also be able to watch online as right-wing populists Marine Le Pen, head of the Front National (FN) in France, and Geert Wilders, chairman of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, come together to talk.

The two politicians will savor the limelight. They want to finally be able to present themselves on the European stage as established representatives of the people. Wilders and Le Pen have a common cause that is not about national sensitivities, even though both see themselves as nationalists and do well as such in opinion polls at home. Rather, they have a common strategic goal in mind with regards to the European Union. » | Christina Hebel and Gregor Peter Schmitz | Wednesday, November 13, 2013

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