FACT SHEET: May 2014
Far-right Parties in the European Elections
This weekend, European voters elected a new slate of representatives to the European Parliament, ushering in a new slate of far-right, largely pro-Russian parties. Many of these parties that will potentially form a powerful new block in the European Parliament have been roundly criticized for their antisemitic, violent, racist rhetoric. But if you look at Europe as a whole, far-right parties had a mixed showing. While Marine Le Pen’s Front National won the French elections with 25 percent of the vote and far-right parties in Austria, Germany, and Greece scored big gains, support for ultra-right parties decreased in Italy, Slovakia, and the Netherlands. In addition, Bulgaria’s virulently antisemitic Attaka party virtually collapsed and, in Hungary, the Jobbik Party stalled and Lithuania’s far-right party made no gains. Final results were not yet available in many countries. Human Rights First is concerned that the ascent of extremist parties could corrode from within respect for the fundamental principles on which the European Union was founded. The United States government should take special note of the increasing electoral strength of Golden Dawn and other extremist parties. Many European far-right parties espouse policies that are a danger to human rights. They also support closer ties with Russia and voted against a European Parliament resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Crimea. Below is a chart of election results for the major pro-Russian far-right parties in each country:
Country Party 2009 2014
Hungary Jobbik 14.77% (3 seats) 14.68% (3 seats)
Austria Freedom Party of Austria 12.71% (2 seats) 19.5% (5 seats)
Greece Orthodox Rally/Golden Dawn* 7.15 (2 seats) 9.38% (3 seats)
France National Front 6.3% (3 seats) 25.4% (22 seats)
UK British National Party 6.04% (2 seats) 1.14 (0 seats)
Germany National Democratic Party of Germany NA 1.0% (1 seat)
Lithuania Order and Justice 12.22% (2 seats) 11.0% (2 seats)
Italy Northern League 10.2% (9 seats) 6.0% (5 seats)
Bulgaria Attack 11.96% (2 seats) 3.0% (0 seats)
Slovakia Slovak National Party 5.56% (1 seat) 3.61% (0 seats)
Slovakia People’s Party Our Slovakia NA 1.73% (0 seats)
Belgium Flemish Importance 9.8% (2 seats) 4.14% (1 seat)
Human Rights First FACT SHEET: May 2014
* In Greece, Golden Dawn won 0.5% of the EP vote in 2009, but its right-wing predecessor, the popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) won 7.1% and two representatives in the European Parliament. LAOS collapsed in 2012 and many of its supporters moved to Golden Dawn. Many other countries elected far-right, but not pro-Russian representatives to the European Parliament: Country Party 2009 2014 Netherlands The Party for Freedom 16.97% (4 seats) 12.9 (3 seats) Denmark Danish People’s Party 14.8% (2 seats) 24.6 (seats) Sweden Swedish Democrats 3.27% (0 seats) 9.7 (2 seats) Finland Finns Party (1 seat) 12.9 (2 seats)
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