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There are at least three different political currents within Europe’s political parties that are often referred to as “hard-line” or “far-right.” The more these develop, some are conservatives appealing primarily to a working and lower middle class audience, others are radicals with clear authoritarian tendencies, but they are mutually exclusive. They no longer look alike. Currently, these discourses are overwhelmingly lumped together negatively in the media and political discourse. However, there are clear differences between them, so they are more appropriately called the “New Right.”
They commonly object to the fact that the EU remains preoccupied with expanding its powers and thereby reducing their own. They are no longer committed to leaving the union, but insist their government is fully sovereign.
They strongly oppose mass immigration, which remains the most attractive policy to broad swaths of the population. Most European states have adopted stricter rules, and some, such as Sweden and Finland, have allowed new right-wing parties to form coalitions with center-right parties or provide parliamentary support to centre-right parties. It has been assembled and operated.
However, these general positions are actually different. New right-wing politician Giorgia Meloni, who has been Italy’s prime minister since 2022, has sometimes worked closely with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Meloni also supports Ukraine’s war of self-defense against Russia and, like the Sweden Democrats, is firmly in the pro-NATO camp.
Marine Le Pen, a leading figure in France’s People’s Party, once had pro-Russian leanings, and the party accepted a loan (now repaid) from a Russian-controlled bank. However, in a speech to the French parliament in March, she said President Vladimir Putin had “started a war right under the noses of the EU, creating arguably the most dramatic geopolitical crisis of the past 20 years.” . . The heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people will lead to Russia’s defeat. ” This appeared to be a radical policy shift. The RN is currently France’s most popular party, and Le Pen, a leading candidate in the 2027 presidential election (despite facing a lawsuit that could prevent her from running), currently points to victory. Probably.
Russia plays an important role in the rise of the New Right. Many of these parties take their cue from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Hungary and remain closer to Russia than to the US-dominated West. They tend to be based in former communist central Europe, but perhaps the most important of these is Alternative for Germany, Germany’s main new right-wing party. Similar pro-Russian sympathies are expressed in the smaller Sahra Wagenknecht Union, whose leaders combine left-wing economics with a commitment to reducing current and future immigration numbers. She argues that Germany’s working class is losing out in the competition for housing, health care, and social services.
From this still changing landscape, the main currents include new right-wing parties in Italy, France and Sweden that profess to be fully democratic and part of the Western camp. And the larger, if less successful, groups are more numerous in central Europe, at least rhetorically more militantly anti-EU, more vehemently anti-immigration, and more closely tied to Christian, family, and traditional values. are.
In between these are a number of parties that straddle both streams, such as Hungary’s Fidesz, Spain’s Vox, Portugal’s Cega, and most importantly AfD. Thuringia’s AfD leader Björn Höcke tends to toy with Nazi themes, shouting at meetings “All for Germany!”, a slogan of the Nazi Stormtroopers, which is banned in Germany ( He has been fined twice for this.) Co-leaders Tino Churupala and Alice Weidel are considered relatively moderate and aim to unite the party. Although Churupala is a prominent pro-Russian faction, he has repeatedly appealed to members to come together and “stop thinking in the camp.”
The “distant” or “harsh” right could reasonably be used against Hecke and the thousands of people who support him. Policies developed by some other political parties will also be covered. It is inappropriate to use this word against those who profess and practice democratic integrity. Labeling prevents people from understanding the roots and reasons for their anti-establishment attitudes. Of course, it is also possible that they are engaged in a long game of protesting moderates while preparing for authoritarianism when they come to power. In this regard, the influence and political standing of Donald Trump, who considers all these parties to be his comrades, will be crucial, as will their ability to govern. But so far it’s anti-totalitarian.
