Dutch Far-Right Party for Freedom Tops Polls as Europe’s ‘Populists’ Gain Momentum

    Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders © Laszlo Balogh / Reuters

The far-right Dutch anti-immigration Party for Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, would become the largest party in the parliament and beat the prime minister’s ruling conservative liberals if elections were held today, according to a new poll data.

The Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) would win 33 seats in the 150-seat lower chamber of the Dutch parliament if elections were held today, according to Maurice de Hond, the Netherlands’ most reputed pollster.

In that case, Wilders would become the Netherlands’ next prime minister as chairman of the biggest parliamentary party, according to the PJ Media news outlet. Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s People's Party for Freedom and Democracy would finish second, securing 25 seats.

The far-right party has 15 seats in the current parliament, having gained about 10 percent of the vote at the 2012 general election. The next election will take place in March 2017, leaving many to believe Wilders will triumph amid growing frustration with the Netherlands’ center-right coalition.

Notably, electoral support for the PVV has not changed dramatically over the past few months. In August, Maurice de Hond predicted the party would have the same 33 seats, down from the February prediction of 42 seats, according to Dutch News. Despite trailing in polls at that time, Wilders’ party remained the country’s biggest with 22 percent of voters backing it.

The PVV appears to be gaining ground despite the ongoing court trial against Wilders, who was charged with inciting hatred and discrimination against the Dutch Moroccan community.

The charges were brought after the controversial far-right leader led a chant for fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands at a rally last year. State prosecutors insist Wilders engaged in hate speech when he asked supporters if they wanted “fewer or more Moroccans” in the Netherlands. After supporters chanted back “fewer,” he replied: “We'll take care of it.”

In a televised statement on the last day of the trial, Wilders denied inciting racial hatred and added that if he was convicted, “millions of Dutch citizens will be convicted with me.”

Wilders described his party as part of a growing anti-establishment right-wing movement that encouraged the Britons to vote for Brexit and American white blue-collar voters to support Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election.

Some of his previous statements appeared to be quite inflammatory, and critics argue that his one-page electoral program he made public in August contains unrealistic promises. Titled, ‘The Netherlands is ours again’, Wilders’ manifesto called for the closure of all mosques and Islamic schools, a ban on the Koran, and “no more immigrants from Islamic countries.”

Wilders’ surge in popularity comes amid reports on European far-right gaining momentum throughout the past year. In France, pollsters say there could be the possibility that Marine Le Pen, the outspoken leader of the National Front, could be elected president next year. However, her center-right adversary, ‘Thatcherite’ Francois Fillon, who recently won the Republican nomination, will be a near-peer opponent.

In Austria, Norbert Hofer of the right-wing anti-Muslim party FPO could be elected president on December 4, an event that would send shockwaves across Europe and boost like-minded parties in the continent. The latest poll by Statista.de gives Hofer 49 percent of the vote, compared to 51 percent given to his sole opponent, Alexander van der Bellen of the Green Party.

Le Pen claims that what Europeans are desperate for the ‘Trump effect’, that is, the mistrust of established political elites and fear of mass immigration. Critics say the far-right are exploiting a populist agenda and capitalizing on primitive sentiments.

Speaking to RT on Tuesday, Ami Horowitz, a US political commentator, said Trump, Le Pen or Wilders are “certainly not a majority,” but “they are driven by certain trends similar both in the United States and Europe … the fact that mainstream politics and mainstream media are simply not trying to find answers to the demands that people across the world have today.” 

“And people are sick and tired of not being represented by the mainstream politics, and I think that people simply want solutions to the vexing problems we have in the world today, whether it be economic stagnation or spectacular immigration problems.”

Far-right Sweden Democrats Tied with Opposition Party as the Political Right Surges in Europe

    Party leader Jimmie Akesson celebrates at the election night party of the Sweden Democrats in
    Stockholm © Anders Wiklund / Reuters

The far-right anti-immigration party Sweden Democrats are tying for second place with the center-right opposition, a new poll shows. It comes as right-wing parties across Europe see Donald Trump’s victory as a welcome defeat for the establishment.

I confess I don't know a lot about the Sweden Democrats, but I wonder if labeling them "far-right" is an example of the media bias that became so obvious after the election of Trump. Are they actually 'far-right', or are they just far to the right of the media and possibly the current government. One could easily argue that both the media and the government of Sweden are 'left' if not 'far-left'. Consequently, someone leaning to the right, even only somewhat to the right, would appear to be 'far-right' of what the government and the media consider normal - themselves.

According to a poll published on Wednesday by Aftonbladet newspaper, support for the Sweden Democrats (SD) party rose to 21.5 percent, compared with the 13 percent they got in the 2014 general election. While the ruling Social Democrats maintain their lead of 25.7 percent, the Sweden Democrats (SD) are gaining ground on the Moderate Party, the largest opposition party with a popularity of 22 percent.

SD popularity figures are rising for a third month in a row, Aftonbladet adds.

“There is a movement in both Europe and the United States where the establishment is being challenged,” SD leader Jimmie Akesson told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper. “It is clearly happening here as well.”

The poll commissioned by Aftonbladet was carried out by Inizio, which asked 2,051 people over 18 whom they would vote for if parliamentary elections were held today.

The Sweden Democrats growth in popularity is part of a surge in right-wing populism across Europe, with the anti-immigration and Eurosceptic AfD (Alternative for Germany) making huge gains at the expense of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, while the Austrian Freedom Party’s candidate Norbert Hofer is running for the Austrian presidency in elections scheduled for December 4.

Hofer has warned that Austria may leave the EU if Turkey succeeds in joining. The UK of course has already left the EU earlier this year in the much-publicized Brexit, following a campaign by the anti-immigration UKIP party.

The far-right in Europe has been emboldened by the election victory of Donald Trump, seeing it as a backlash to the establishment’s stained reputation. Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front now feels she is a real contender for the 2017 presidential elections

“Donald Trump has made possible what was presented as completely impossible,” Le Pen said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday. “So it’s a sign of hope for those who cannot bear wild globalization. They cannot bear the political life led by the elites.”

Meanwhile, polling organizations were heavily criticized after the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections, where a majority predicted a win for Hillary Clinton.

“What seems to be a minority view in public might be a majority view in private,” Lars Gylling, YouGov's communications manager for the Nordics, told The Local. “There are some things that we don't want to tell even our closest friends, and those things are often tied to nationalism and views on immigrants, especially if they are negative.”

The populist movement is driven significantly by fears over terrorism, immigration and multiculturalism. In Sweden there is a popular perception that the crime rate by migrants and refugees is spiraling out-of-control.

Despite being a relatively low-crime country, there have been alarming reports of over fifty so-called “no-go zones” across Sweden where crime rates are high and police officers are at risk of attack.

Several high-profile incidents, including 38 reported sexual assaults at a Stockholm music festival this summer, have strengthened this view. Although the Swedish Crime Survey reported an 11 percent decrease in such attacks in 2015, the same year which saw a record number of migrants – nearly 163,000 applied for asylum according to the Swedish Migration Agency – the Swedish Democrats are the only party which has addressed voter’s fears directly. Sweden has also contributed the third-most jihadi fighters per capita to the conflict in Syria out of all the EU countries, and there is concern that returning militants will go on to commit terrorist attacks at home.

‘Austria Will Stay in EU if Turkey Stays Out’ – Presidential Candidate Hofer to RT

Norbert Hofer © Heinz-Peter Bader / Reuters

There will be no need for a referendum on EU membership in Austria if the European Union decides not to let Turkey become a member, Norbert Hofer, the head of Austria’s eurosceptic Freedom Party (FPO) told RT.

“I believe that people are able to learn, that political structures are able to develop, and that Austria will contribute to making Europe better. There is one exception, however, that is if the EU decides to let Turkey join the Union,” Hofer said, adding that under such circumstances “Austrians will have to be asked whether they want this.”

“I hope that there will be no need for a referendum [on EU membership] in Austria, and that the Union will develop in a positive manner,” he added. “But I am fully certain that Austrian people will not accept Turkish membership in the bloc, as well as the situation where Austria is deprived of its powers in favor of the authorities in Brussels.”

I like this guy; he makes absolute sense.

Hofer said the EU must learn the lesson the posed by the British referendum, namely to divide the powers between its central authority in Brussels and the 27 member states.

“Of course I was concerned about the future of the EU [in view of the British referendum results]. I respect the decision the British nation made, all democratic decisions must be respected,” he said.

“However, the European Union must learn this lesson: we must be creating Europe for the people, not Europe for bureaucrats. This means that we need to come up with better agreements, we must divide the powers between the EU, on the one hand, and its member states, on the other, and get the citizens involved in these projects,” Hofer said.

He said that the EU has a chance to avoid the  of other European states following the UK out of the bloc if it becomes a subsidiary union, which “takes into consideration, which powers are exercised by its authorities, and which – by member states.”

"Bottom line, it all depends on the direction the EU chooses for its further development,” Hofer said.

Earlier, Hofer warned that Austria could hold its own referendum on EU membership within a year if the bloc insists on political “centralization.” The FPO leader and his establishment see the bloc as based on economic, rather than political, cooperation. And his views have an increasing influence on the public opinion in Austria, especially now that Hofer has a chance to become Austrian president after the country’s Constitutional Court ruled a re-run of last month’s presidential election which saw him narrowly lose the post by just 31,000 votes.

“If the EU chooses the right path, there will be no need for a referendum in Austria,” Hofer told RT.

Is Europe Lurching to the Far Right?

Katya Adler, Europe editor, BBC


A banner of Austrian presidential candidate Norbert Hofer is covered with snow in Gnadenwald, Austria, April 27, 2016. Reuters

Extreme conditions - what explains the rise of right-wing populism in Europe, such as the success of Norbert Hofer in Austria?

A ripple of concern shivered across Europe this week in establishment circles after a right-wing populist candidate stormed to pole position in the first round of Austria's presidential election.

"Triumph for the extreme right," proclaimed Spain's El Pais newspaper. Britain's Guardian warned of "turmoil" ahead. Italy's Corriere della Sera bemoaned a victory for the "anti-immigrant far right" while Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called on traditional political parties to "listen to this wake-up call!"

"The extreme right" - A bit hysterical, don't you think?

Most publications identified some link between Norbert Hofer's strong showing and Austria's centre-stage role in the EU's migrant crisis.

"In Austria, European governments see a mirror of their own future. Social tensions are rising," noted another editorial predicting the rise of Europe's far right. But this writer wasn't talking about Sunday's vote.

Trotskyist journalist Peter Schwarz penned his thoughts 16 years ago, back in February 2000, when the Freedom Party (FPOe) first joined an Austrian government.

At the time, the party's charismatic and controversial leader, Joerg Haider, had provoked condemnation at home and abroad with his praise for Hitler's Waffen SS, with his strong anti-immigrant stance and Eurosceptic views.


Thousands of demonstrators with banners and flags on their way to Heldenplatz on 19 February 2000 for a demonstration against the new Austrian coalition government between Joerg Haider's right-wing Freedom Party and the conservative Peoples Party, AP

The rise of Joerg Haider's Freedom Party in Austria 16 years ago prompted outrage - now there is little more than a raised eyebrow.

I was living in Vienna then and reported from amongst the tens of thousands of anti-Haider protesters chanting "Never again!" in Heldenplatz - the emblematic square in central Vienna where Hitler chose to celebrate the annexation of Austria in 1938.

Europe was appalled at the inclusion of the Freedom Party in government. For the first time in EU history, all other members imposed sanctions on one of their own.

Diplomatic relations with Vienna were frozen. Austria was ostracised.

Then. But not now.

Now European eyebrows are raised, but little more than that.



Austria is hardly a novelty these days. Resurgent right-wing populist groupings shout anti-immigration and Eurosceptic slogans across much of the EU.

They find acclaim amongst large chunks of the electorate in Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Greece, France and the Netherlands, for example.

So does this mean that Europe is veering to the far right? I would argue not.

A number of these political parties existed and enjoyed some popularity back in 2000 - such as the Danish People's Party, Italy's Northern League and France's National Front.

But what is very different now is that right-wing populists' bread-and-butter issues have become mainstream, (because of negligence by the governments of the day).

Socially acceptable

This, following a toxic shock to the European public - made up of the current migrant crisis and the 2008 economic downturn which fuelled the euro crisis.

Questioning (while not always decrying) immigration, integration, the euro, the EU and the establishment, while promoting a stiff dose of nationalist sentiment, is now entirely "salonfaehig", as German-speakers would say.

This literally means "passable for your living room", or socially acceptable.

And something else has been spreading throughout Europe.

Dissatisfaction, cynicism and outright rejection of traditional political parties (as well as business and banking elites), many of which have been in power in Western Europe in one way or another since the end of the World War Two.

This, and not far-right fervour, is arguably driving voters to stage ballot-box protests or to seek alternative political homes - to the delight of Europe's populist parties.



Greece's Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn cannot be lumped with Britain's anti-establishment UKIP, AFP

But they vary enormously in their political make-up from far left, to far right, to right-wing populist. They have different values and objectives.

Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn in Greece cannot be put in the same political basket as anti-establishment UKIP, which campaigns for the UK to leave the EU.

Lumping these parties together as evidence of the rise of the far right is simply incorrect.

We also do not know if Mr Hofer will be voted Austria's president after a second ballot next month.

France's National Front has often flopped at the last hurdle in presidential and regional elections.

More accurate than a warning "to heed a wake-up call on the far right's march across Europe" would be to heed a wake-up call that Europe and many of its citizens are floundering and trying to find a voice.

Right-wing nationalism in Europe - a snapshot


Protesters trample a burnt European Union flag during a demonstration entitled 'To be members, or to be free?' and called by the right-wing parliamentary party 'Jobbik' against European Union in front of the European Union Parliament and Committee headquarters in downtown Budapest on January 14, AFP

In Austria, for the first time since World War Two neither of Austria's two main centrist parties made it to the presidential run-off

Denmark's government relies on the support of the nationalist Danish People's Party and has the toughest immigration rules in Europe

The leader of the nationalist Finns Party is foreign minister of Finland, after it joined a coalition government last year

In France, the far-right National Front won 6.8 million votes in regional elections in 2015 - its largest ever score

The far-right Jobbik party - polling third in Hungary - organises patrols by an unarmed but uniformed "Hungarian Guard" in Roma (Gypsy) neighbourhoods

Perspective 

There is the matter of perspective here that Katya has not addressed. Aside from the neo-nazi types, other far-right wing parties may appear to be extreme only because they contrast so greatly with the left wing governments that have been in place in much of Europe for many decades. From a right-wing perspective, some of them might be seen as 'far-left' governments.

From a 'centrist' position, most right-wing parties are not extreme, or even that 'far' right. Current governments, however, see themselves as 'the norm' or 'centrist', when that is clearly not the case.