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Publisher: Jan Philipp Albrecht, MEP Right-wing extremists and right-wing popu- lists in the European Parliament Publisher: Jan Philipp Albrecht, MEP European Parliament, ASP 08H246 EUROPE THE FAR RIGHT Rue Wiertz 60 1047 Brussels Right-wing extremists and right-wing populists in the European Parliament Die Grünen/Freie Europäische Allianz im Europäischen Parlament translated version, original: Jan Philipp Albrecht, MdEP: Europa Rechtsaus- sen. Rechtsextremisten und Rechtspopulisten im Europäischen Parlament PREFACE JAN PHILIPP ALBRECHT, MEP 06 INTRODUCTION 08 CONTENTS COUNTRY REPORTS BELGIUM 16 BULGARIA 23 DENMARK 30 GREAT BRITAIN 37 FRANCE 44 GREECE 52 ITALY 59 NETHERLANDS 70 AUSTRIA 79 ROMANIA 86 SLOVAKIA 93 HUNGARY 98 FOOTNOTES 108 BIBLIOGRAPHY 120 CONTENTS 04 05 CONTENTS MEP Marine Le Pen and the leader of in 2010, this brochure aims to shed light other extreme right-wing party, Golden the Austrian FPÖ party, Heinz-Christian on the right-wing extremists and popu- Dawn, entering a parliament in Europe. Strache, are forming alliances. The pho- lists in the European Parliament and on In view of the economic and social up- to on the front of this brochure shows their parties within the countries of the heavals in many EU Member States, it both politicians at a press conference at EU. Wide-ranging background informa- cannot be assumed that we are again the European Parliament in Strasbourg. tion will enable the people of Europe to in the clear as regards the success of When the next European Parliament gain an idea of the overall situation. It right-wing extremist and populist par- elections take place in 2014, many will also help those involved in the po- ties. As a result, my efforts in opposing MEPs and also many voters will be una- litical process in the European Union right-wing extremism will continue to be ware of the presence that right-wing ex- and my colleagues in the various parlia- a focal point of my work over the com- tremists already have in Europe. This is ments and parties to better understand ing years. My team and I would be very also due to the way extreme right-wing the somewhat blurred spectrum of right- happy to learn of new developments ideology is emerging under new guises. wing extremism and to oppose racist and receive additional information relat- The key players are increasingly aware and nationalist tendencies. ing to this brochure. Anybody wishing PREFACE BY JAN PHILIPP ALBRECHT of the need to link up with like-minded to receive further information about our people in other countries and to re- I would like to thank all my team, and work in the European Parliament can spond to the prevailing populist mood. particularly Tobias Peter, who has con- send an e-mail to jan.albrecht@euro- In the wake of the success of charismat- The image they display of being patri- tributed hugely to the success of this and parl.europa.eu. ic right-wing populists such as Marine otic fighters against “the high-ups in the the previous brochure. This brochure is Le Pen in France and Geert Wilders in established parties and in Brussels” is of course a snapshot and is being pub- I hope this brochure will provide you the Netherlands, there is once again a gaining in popularity as a result of the lished at a time when Europe and its de- with helpful insights and make some heightened awareness of how extreme continuing global crisis. The racist and mocracies are in deep crisis. The fateful contribution to creating a Europe free right-wing parties in Europe are gaining misanthropic undertones of their mes- elections in Greece in 2012 led to an- of racism, misanthropy and nationalism. popularity amongst voters. Their influ- sage may seem to go unheard, but they ence on governments and hence on the still permeate into people’s conscious- key issues of European politics is grow- ness and their discussions with others. ing. Government heads such as Victor Following on from the comprehensive Orban in Hungary are moving ever clos- brochure entitled “Strategien gegen Re- er to the right. Throughout Europe, right- chtsextremismus” [Strategies to combat Jan Philipp Albrecht, MEP wing extremists and populists, including right-wing extremism] which I published Member of the European Parliament PREFACE 06 07 PREFACE lands”. But who are these MEPS, and what issues are they concerned with? Which countries do they come from, and who is behind them at national level? This brochure gives an insight into an area that has hitherto received little attention: the presence of miscel- laneous right-wing extremist parties and MEPs in the European Parliament. Re- ports on individual European countries allow anyone interested in this subject to gain an overview of the national con- texts that have given rise to the MEPs in question and to their positions in Par- liament. Although the fascist-leaning parties of many European countries had little chance of electoral success after the Second World War, they have never stopped working to push through their hate-filled view of the world. In order to demonstrate these tenden- cies, the country reports also examine the situation at the end of the Second World War, but the historical perspec- tive is somewhat brief. It is clear, how- ever, that right-wing extremism is not INTRODUCTION a modern phenomenon in Europe and that many of the parties concerned Right-wing extremism in its various have just given themselves a new gloss guises and nuances is threatening Eu- without abandoning their core racism. rope’s democracies. In this regard, the Unlike in Western Europe, extreme term “right-wing extremism” is used to right-wing parties did not emerge on the describe an entire group of ideologies political landscape in Eastern Europe and activities that stand in opposition to until 1989/90, so the country reports democracy, plurality and human rights. only begin at the start of their transition Its blueprint for society is characterised process. But of course fascist parties by an authoritarian and anti-pluralistic and movements also existed in Eastern mind-set. Right-wing extremist and pop- Europe before and during the inter-war ulist parties are also represented in the period, and the tendencies in ques- European Parliament and are actively tion continued to exist up to 1989. The working to create a “Europe of Father- country reports only give an overview INTRODUCTION 08 09 INTRODUCTION of the situation and look at it solely in liament because these are made avail- regional and national level in what is the Hungarian Justice and Life party terms of party-based right-wing extrem- able by the Parliament itself, at least in termed a “grey area” of right-wing ex- (MIÉP), the Italian Lega Nord, the Aus- ism, pointing to the sources for anyone English. The biographical data is taken tremism.4 In contrast to right-wing ex- trian Bündnis Zukunft Österreich (BZÖ), requiring more detailed information. from the European Parliament’s web- tremists, the populists of the right focus the Danish People’s Party, the Swiss Moreover, ideological differences and site. neither on direct opposition to democ- Volkspartei (SVP) and the Dutch Party peculiarities are only touched upon, as racy nor on open violence as a means for Freedom (PVV). There are also a are analytical explanations of partly- of political confrontation. In order to pre- number of parties which have so far concealed anti-Semitic and racist state- sent themselves as an electoral alterna- only been successful at local or regional ments. Although it is difficult, the quota- THE CONCEPTS.... tive to society’s “middle ground”, they level, such as the German National- tions in question cannot be analysed on avoid being identified with right-wing demokratische Partei Deutschlands the basis of their ideological substrate There are a great many terms used to extremists. But despite this ideologi- (NPD), the British National Party (BNP) and their respective right-wing extrem- describe what we refer to in this bro- cal shift, the principles of the right-wing and the Swedish Democrats (SD). The ist motivation but to a great extent must chure as right-wing extremism.1 In gen- populist parties are not compatible with extreme right is mainly successful at the be left to stand on their own. Instead, eral, right-wing extremism describes a those of a pluralistic society guided by level of movements and sub-cultures.5 this brochure is conceived as a source political current that directly or indirectly concepts of equality and governed by At sub-culture level, there is clearly of information on the right-wing extrem- opposes the main cornerstones of lib- the rule of law. They still believe in the a strong trans-national cooperation ist and populist MEPs in question and eral democracies, i.e. political plural- same ideology of inequality, the exclu- between right-wing extremists from aims to provide information for further ism and the constitutional protection of sion of ethnically or biologically-defined various countries. Foreign contacts be- political debate. It should also be noted minorities. Its core is made up of ultra- minorities and the need to curtail their tween right-wing extremists have inten- that right-wing extremist groups are ac- nationalistic, authoritarian and xeno- rights. sified, communication channels have tive as movements and sub-cultures in phobic elements. The process of social improved, a regular exchange of infor- all the countries concerned. Although modernisation with social and functional mation has been established and travel academic research has established a differentiation and increased individu- to events organised by groups abroad direct link between party-based and alisation is seen as the opposite of a THE SOCIAL CONTEXT..

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