Growing disillusionment with the mainstream has led to voters across Europe embracing the far-right, according to a London university professor.
It is a trend which has emerged in several European countries, such as the election of Giorgia Meloni as prime minister in Italy or Robert Fico in Slovakia, while in Austria, the far-right Freedom Party was tasked with forming a coalition government.
For Queen Mary University of London‘s Corina Lacatus it is more evidence of increasing dissatisfaction with traditional political parties.
Politics lecturer Lacatus said: “Both parties and voters are moving away from the traditional right and left division, from socialist or capitalist platforms.
“Rather, they centre their political identity around the growing disillusionment with mainstream traditional parties, with economic inequality and inflation.”
The Freedom Party, led by Herbert Kickl, are one of the most recent of those groups in Europe to emerge with election success.
Kickl is a pro-Russia politician who has voiced his admiration for such controversial figures as Russian president Vladimir Putin or Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.
Queen Mary University politics lecturer Stijn van Kessel believes the promotion of conspiracies theories by some groups has played a part in why far-right nationalist movements have grown in popularity.
Van Kessel said: “Some far-right candidates have gone even further, using misinformation and conspiracies to foster strong emotional reactions in their voters and ultimately advance their agendas.
“The more fearful and scared voters are, the more likely they are to cling onto simple answers and solutions.”
One can see examples of this in several different countries throughout Europe, be it Eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia), Western Europe (Italy, Austria, Germany) or even the UK, given the rise of nationalist movements such as UKIP.
As for what the future holds for populist moments, lecturer Richard Johnson shared his view about what needs to be done to counter their views.
Johnson said: “Hopefully, the current growth of the far-right will motivate the centrists and left-wingers to learn some valuable lessons and come back with stronger and more effective political alternatives.”
Picture credit: Free to use under Creative Commons licence
Join the discussion