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Opinion | Far right’s victory in Italy the latest blow to EU’s legacy of tolerance and liberalism
- Decades of inattention on the part of European leaders are coming home to roost as far-right parties secure stronger support and national office
- The future of the EU as a bastion of post-World-War-II liberal democracy and tolerance is now in jeopardy as Eurosceptic populism surges across the continent
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Europe’s political elites think they knows best, much to the anger of their own populace. For decades, leaders across the European Union have not been listening.
As ordinary citizens suffer the consequences of leaders’ failures to address people’s basic needs, an old and ominous element has been waiting to profit – Europe’s far right. Frighteningly for anyone familiar with Europe’s fascist past, the far right’s time might have come again.
Far-right parties have consistently maintained modest support across the continent for decades, garnering 5 to 10 per cent of the national vote even during times of stability and prosperity. But, as social and economic conditions have complicated and worsened, their stock has grown. And now Italy – where fascist dictator Benito Mussolini once ruled – has returned power to the far right in the guise of Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.
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EU leaders have not heeded numerous warnings. They have continued to push for EU federalism – profound political, economic and even military unity – despite opinion polls showing significant public opposition and it being one of the key reasons behind Brexit.
They have failed to address the Schengen agreement – which guarantees free and borderless movement within the EU – more than a decade after the migration crisis began. They ignored the warning from Greece in 2012 when, following national economic collapse, voters turned against the establishment.
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China hopes Italy’s new far-right government will follow pragmatic policy in bilateral ties
China hopes Italy’s new far-right government will follow pragmatic policy in bilateral ties
French citizens have also been voting in large numbers for anyone but the staid, usual suspects. This resulted in the election of an independent in Emmanuel Macron as president in 2017, and he has the far right hot on his heels.
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