How Europe’s Far Right Is Marching Steadily into the Mainstream

THE GUARDIAN: Whether in Italy, Spain, France or Finland, parties that were once outcasts are fast gaining respectability – and power

Brothers of Italy, the party of Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, has neofascist roots. Photograph: Luca Zennaro/EPA
Almost 25 years ago, when Jörg Haider’s far-right populist Freedom party (FPÖ) won just under 27% of the vote and entered government in Austria, the shock waves reverberated around Europe. Diplomatic visits were cancelled and punitive measures imposed.

Not long after, when Jean-Marie Le Pen of France’s National Front (now National Rally or RN) reached the presidential runoff, the eventual winner, Jacques Chirac, refused even to debate with the far-right leader, so abhorrent – and abnormal – were his views.

But now across western Europe, far-right parties are advancing: climbing steadily up the polls, shaping the policies of the mainstream right to reflect nativist and populist platforms, and occupying select ministerial roles in coalition governments.

Giorgia Meloni, whose party has neofascist roots, is prime minister of Italy, and Spain’s far-right Vox, after recently doubling its regional and local vote, could soon be sharing power nationally.

The far right is part of the new coalition government in Finland and, in exchange for key policy concessions, is propping up another in Sweden. Back in Austria, the FPÖ is comfortably ahead in the polls, roughly a year from the next election. » | Jon Henley, Europe correspondent | Friday, June 30, 2023

The Guardian View on the Le Pen Family Firm: Reaching the End of the Line?

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: High-profile defections and the challenge of Éric Zemmour could leave Marine Le Pen with nowhere to go

‘During the current election campaign, Ms Le Pen has focused on blue-collar issues and economic nationalism.’ Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images
Is the longest-running political dynasty on Europe’s far right finally running out of road? After her defeat by Emmanuel Macron in the presidential run-off of 2017, Marine Le Pen decided to double down on attempts to detoxify the Front National (FN) movement founded by her father, Jean-Marie, in 1972. The party’s name was changed to the more innocuous-sounding Rassemblement National (National Rally) and its hostility to the European Union and the euro was toned down. During the current election campaign, Ms Le Pen has focused on blue-collar issues and economic nationalism. Having tempered the xenophobic rhetoric and culture-warrior persona, last month she said that she had “definitively broken with provocations” that were “the sins of our political family”.

It is generally accepted that this strategy – and this election campaign – represent Ms Le Pen’s last throw of the dice. So far, her numbers are not coming up. In a disastrous beginning to the year, she has endured a number of high-profile defections to the camp of her more extreme rival on the far right, Éric Zemmour. Most damagingly of all, her charismatic niece Marion Maréchal, a former FN MP, last week signalled both her sympathy for Mr Zemmour’s old-school approach and her desire to return to the political stage after a five-year break. Ms Maréchal is far more socially conservative than her aunt, whom she has reportedly not spoken to for some time. In an extraordinary television interview, Ms Le Pen seemed on the point of tears as she described her intervention as “brutal” and “violent”. » | Editorial | Tuesday, February 1, 2022

The Guardian View on Violence against Public Figures: The Threat Is Growing

THE GUARDIAN: Donald Trump’s hostility to the press is so far unmatched in the UK. But the targeting of Owen Jones and others by far-right activists is deeply concerning

Any unprovoked violent attack is disturbing. Thuggish behaviour is repellent, all the more so when an individual is targeted by a group. When a person is singled out because of their political beliefs, or due to their assailants’ hatred of a particular group or minority, the crime has additional significance. With a police investigation ongoing, it is too soon to draw conclusions about the motives of the men who attacked Guardian journalist and activist Owen Jones outside a London pub in the early hours of Saturday. But given that Jones has previously been accosted by far-right activists, targeted with threatening social media posts and subjected to homophobic abuse, there was already cause for concern. » | Editorial | Monday, August 19, 2019