Tempus
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Tidskriften
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FRANCE is not the only European country
suffering a far-right surge. In an arc of countries spreading
north-east from the Netherlands, populist parties are cutting
a swathe through politics, appealing to electorates with various
blends of nationalism, Euroscepticism (and euro-scepticism) and
outright xenophobia.
The country to watch is Finland, where the True Finns have emerged
from obscurity to have a shot at joining government after an election
on April 17th. Surging poll ratings (see table) put them on a
par with Finland’s three main parties. “If the party
gets enough seats”, says Pasi Saukkonen, a political scientist
at Helsinki University, “it would be quite difficult to exclude
them from negotiations.” Timo Soini, the party leader, who
casts himself as a jovial everyman, is pitching for the premiership.
Finland’s mainstream politicians have acknowledged the ascent of the True Finns. Mari Kiviniemi, prime minister and leader of the Centre Party, says she could work with the party. Her finance minister, Jyrki Katainen, leader of the conservative National Coalition Party, says Mr Soini could be prime minister.
The party has broadened its appeal from
its rural base and is filching voters from all sides. It adopts
an anti-immigrant pose, but its signature issue is hostility to
the European Union and particularly the bail-outs of poorer southern
members of the euro by fiscally prudent northerners. Its influence
may already be visible in the hard line struck by the Finnish
government in recent euro-zone negotiations.
Another Nordic party that can point to influence over government is the Danish People’s Party (DF). Under its influence the minority centre-right coalition it has propped up for the past decade has turned Denmark’s immigration regime into one of Europe’s tightest. The DF’s leader, Pia Kjaersgaard, is often voted Denmark’s most powerful woman, ahead of the queen. Buoyed by the government’s appointment last week of a new gung-ho immigration minister, the DF upped the ante by demanding the prohibition of purpose-built mosques and compulsory psalm-singing in schools. It hopes to do well in elections that must be held by November.
Their Swedish counterparts, the Sweden Democrats, enjoyed success at a general election last September, entering parliament for the first time (decked out in pastoral national costume). There was speculation that they might become an ally of government. But unlike their Danish brethren they have been shunned by other parties. Last week Erik Ullenhag, Sweden’s integration minister, accused them of intolerance and Islamophobia. But their poll ratings are holding up.
In the Netherlands the anti-immigrant
Freedom Party (PVV) and its leader, Geert Wilders, are still hot
stuff, despite an unspectacular performance in recent provincial
elections. Polls put the party second only to the Liberals, whose
minority coalition with the Christian Democrats Mr Wilders has
supported in parliament since last year, in a Denmark-style arrangement.
Some in the political establishment thought that bringing Mr Wilders
into power would temper his appeal. That plan does not seem to
be working. Mr Wilders paints himself as an anti-establishment
figure, but he is well versed in playing the system, exploiting
his insider-outsider position to maximum advantage. His criticism
of ministers can be scathing, but is limited to personalities,
or issues outside the government agreement he has signed. The
PVV still plays the Muslim card—anti-Islamism, Mr Wilders
says, remains his “passion”—but it is seeking to
broaden its hand with other themes, ranging from the eccentric
(expelling “imported” animal species such as Highland
cows) to the worrying (“scum camps” for repeat offenders).
Other countries have not been immune
to the far right’s rise. Since 2009 the British National
Party has been represented in the European Parliament. The Vlaams
Belang remains a force in Belgium’s dysfunctional politics.
The virus, it seems, is spreading.
