Europe's youth blinded by vision of new 'golden dawn'

From the Greek Spartans' ascension to France's National Rally, Georgios Samaras follows the march of the far right across Europe and its growing sinister appeal to young voters

- Georgios Samaras

On 9 June, Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s far-right National Rally, addressed an enthusiastic and jubilant audience with remarkable composure and confidence. A sea of young faces stood cheering, waving flags and soaking in his every word. At 28, Bardella, a Frenchman of Italian descent (his maternal family immigrated to France in the 1960s), gave an impassioned speech underscoring the party’s commitment to closed borders. In the wake of the European Union election result that saw his party secure more than 31.4 per cent of the vote and 30 seats in the European parliament, its success, he said, heralded “a new hope” for France.

It was enough to jolt Emmanuel Macron into swift action. Despite having three years left of his presidential term he called a shock snap election. His was a different hope. A hope, he said, that “when the time comes, men and women of goodwill who will say no to extremes will come together”.

Time will tell whether this is a clever tactical move or a reckless political gamble, but what is certain is Bardella’s leadership seems to have played no insignificant part in propelling his party’s ascent. In the space of a few days, he has become the poster child of how the far right has captured the hearts and minds of a new generation. A new mood is building across Europe and the young are driving it.

Historian Enzo Traverso’s 2018 book The New Faces of Fascism aimed to shed light on the evolving demographics of the Europe-wide movement. His initial observations seem prescient today: young men aligning with a modernised far right which seeks to mask its ideological extremism and present a less menacing facade.