Right On a Roll

The war in Ukraine poses a threat to the post-Berlin Wall order in Europe. But it is ridiculous to talk about the end of Europe. Social democracy and a liberal social welfare state, its commitment of economic solidarity and its role in addressing climate change, place the old continent on a higher pedestal. Europe may have begun to lose its cutting edge in technology. But it hasn't yet lost its democratic plot

Lea Ypi, professor of political theory at the London School of Economics, believes a new "European militarism" has not only empowered the radical right but also undermined the very ideals that made the European Union such an attractive proposition. Commonly described as far-right, the disparate group is on the ascendancy in Europe. It has achieved an impressive victory in the European elections.

Their performance in national elections is equally impressive. In France, far-right leader Marine Le Pen's National Rally is able to muster over 30 per cent of the vote, surging ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party. In Germany, many believe, the right-wing CDU is all set to win power in the next elections. Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic have hard-right parties in government.

Cas Mudde, author of The Far Right Today, says that "not only is the radical right bigger and more mainstream, but their issues are now not even recognized as radical right positions anymore."

That the European Commission should have Commissioners to protect the European way of life well illustrates the point. The far-right has also capitalized on the 'proletarianization' of the electorates across Europe.

Lea Ypi argues that the European Union doesn't truly represent the people as it merely "rubber-stamps" decisions made by the European Commission. It is "this representative gap that is filled by the radical right, turning the problem into simple binaries ~ either you or them, the state or Europe, the white worker or the migrant."

The far-right's agenda may be "narrowly ethnocentric," Lea Ypi contends, but "it is the only one on offer that speaks directly to people's disillusionment." Things have come to such a pass, she says, that no appeal to "European values will stop the river in which we're all about to drown."