Extreme right
EXTREMISM IN EUROPE: AN OVERVIEWEXTREME RIGHT WATCH WORKING GROUP
PSE
Extreme right in European Union: an overview
The "right-wing threat", or the increase in racist, nationalist and radical right-wing tendencies, is spreading concerns in nearly all European countries. The European Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenophobia EUMC presented a report at the end of 2005 which provides the first comprehensive overview of development in the 25 EU member states and the counter measures that have been introduced. The EU report spoke of 6,474 racist incidents.
The extreme right is also represented in most other eastern European parliaments and in some countries is even involved in government. In Slovakia, for example, the social democratic party SMER- SD has formed a coalition with ultra-right-wing Slovak National Party, and, until recently, two ultra-right-wing parties were coalition partners of the Kaczynski brothers in Poland.
The presence of these forces at a national level was also reflected in the European Parliament. The entry of Romania and Bulgaria into the European Union meant that deputies from the extreme-right Bulgarian Ataka and the Great Romania Party also entered the parliament in Strasbourg and made it possible for the right-wing extremists to form their own parliamentary group. Europe’s extreme right has assembled under the name “Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty” and included such notorious neo-fascists as Jean-Marie Le Pen of the French National Front, Andreas Mölzer of the Austrian Liberals and Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of the Italian dictator. Possessing parliamentary group status, the deputies received additional funding from the parliamentary budget and had the right to vote in the “Conference of Presidents,” which lays down the parliament’s agenda. In addition, they had increased powers to submit proposed legal amendments. The group was also entitled to interpreters, assistants and other personnel: the EU was being used as platform for echoing ideas, values and principles contradictory with the ones in the basis of the European Union construction .
The ITS group doesn't exist anymore since the abandon of the Romanian MEPs following the statements by Mussolini applauding the decision of expulsion of Romanian from Italy.. Xenophobia destroyed the xenophobe party.
Expulsion of minorities, violent confrontations between far right extremists and anti system groups, rising of ultra nationalism and xenophobia face the immigration, etc. are phenomena currently being part of European reality and to which give an European response.
The resources used for the elaboration of this Overview are: Centre d'Études de la vie politique (CEVIPOL) of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, for the figures and informations concerning the electoral results; DELWITT, P. and POIRIER, Ph. (eds.): The Extreme Right Parties and Power in Europe", Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles, Brussels, 2006; The European Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenofobia; The Guardian special report "Europe's Far Right"; Internet resources.
February 2008
AUSTRIA
There are two extreme-Right parties in Austria: the Freedom Party (FPÖ, led by Heinz Christian-Strache) and the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ, led by Jörg Haider)
The Austrian Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, abbreviated to FPÖ) is a right-wing political party in Austria. Its current leader is Heinz-Christian Strache. The FPÖ is generally regarded as a populist party and often classed as a german-nationalist party. It promises stronger anti-immigration laws, stricter law enforcement and more funds for families.
In April 2005, former party leader Jörg Haider and other leading party members seceded from the FPÖ to form a new party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ).
The Freedom Party was founded in 1956 and had its roots in the Pan German movement, which included both elements of liberalism and nationalism. It absorbed the political currents of former parties such as the Landbund and the Greater German People's Party of the First Republic. Its immediate predecessor was the Federation of Independents (Verband der Unabhängigen – VdU), which had obtained 12% of the electorate in 1949 but later collapsed after internal strife.
Even though many of the FPÖ's leading proponents such as Anton Reinthaller and Friedrich Peter were former Nazis, as a third party it had a broad appeal among voters who felt uncomfortable both with the perceived deference to the Catholic Church of the People's Party and the socialism of the Socialist Party. During the following decades, its adherents included anti-clerical liberals, business representatives striving for more economic liberalism and German nationalists, some of whom were sympathetic to certain Nazi policies. Even today, the lower ranks of the party organisation are largely made up of members of German-nationalist Studentenverbindungen. However, this has rarely stopped other parties from cooperating with it, e.g. Bruno Kreisky's minority government (1970–1971) could only survive because the FPÖ agreed to tolerate it.
The coalition government
In the 1999 parliamentary election, the FPÖ received 27% of the votes, more than in any election before; they even beat the ÖVP (the conservative "People's Party") by a small margin (about 400 votes, with 4.6 million Austrians voting), which had until then always taken first or second place in national elections.
In early 2000, the FPÖ joined a coalition government with Wolfgang Schüssel's ÖVP. The Freedom Party had to take a junior part in the coalition, as otherwise the ÖVP would have continued their coalition with the SPÖ. There was a great degree of outrage both within the country and internationally. The heads of government of the other 14 EU members decided to cease cooperation with the Austrian government, as it was felt in many countries that the cordon sanitaire against coalitions with parties considered as right-wing extremists, which had mostly held in Western Europe since 1945, had been breached. For example, for several months, other national leaders refused to shake hands and socialize with members of the Schüssel government.
The EU leaders returned to normality during the summer of 2000, even though the coalition remained unchanged.
In February 2000, Haider stepped down from the leadership of the Freedom Party. He retained the governorship of Carinthia.
Even though the FPÖ members of the government and the party leadership at that time consisted largely of politicians such as Susanne Riess-Passer and Karl-Heinz Grasser, whose career had so far depended entirely on Haider's populism, Haider himself appeared to be increasingly discontent with the situation, as his party began to lose in regional and local elections, since it was no longer in the position to gain votes by criticizing the government. This caused a dispute within the party, which escalated at a special party convention at Knittelfeld that caused three leading members of the government to resign (so-called Knittelfeld Putsch).
In the November 2002, general elections in Austria resulted in a landslide victory (42.27% of the vote) for the People's Party. The Freedom Party, which had been stronger than the People's Party in 1999 , was reduced to 10.16% of the vote, less than half its previous share. Nevertheless, the coalition government of the People's Party and Freedom Party (now with 79+18=97 seats in Austria's 183-seat parliament, down from 52+52=104 in 1999) was renewed in February 2003.
In September 2003, regional elections, notably in Upper Austria, also brought heavy losses, with the Austrian Green Party for the first time receiving more votes than the Freedom Party. The elections to the European Parliament in June 2004 reduced the Freedom Party's share of the vote to a mere 6%. Similar results were achieved at several state and local elections.
The FPÖ seemed to have largely lost its appeal to voters, except in Carinthia, where it gained 42.5% in the state elections of March 7, 2004. However, that success, most likely resting entirely on Haider's personal charisma, appeared to be rapidly losing its effectiveness in the rest of the country.
The Alliance for the Future of Austria (German: Bündnis Zukunft Österreich or BZÖ) is an Austrian political party founded by Jörg Haider, his sister Ursula Haubner, and other leading members of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) on April 4, 2005. This resulted in the split of the Freedom Party, the future prospects of which seemed very uncertain for a time. Since the BZÖ has fared very badly in the state elections it participated in, many commentators believed that it would disappear after the 2006 elections. However, the party garnered 193,539 votes, giving it 7 seats in the Austrian Nationalrat.
As a result of the state elections in Styria, Burgenland and Vienna in October 2005, the coalition lost its majority in the Federal Council, even when counting FPÖ members. The BZÖ wishes to continue the coalition until the planned elections in Autumn 2006. Initially Chancellor Schüssel did not exclude the possibility of calling an early election, but on April 5, 2005 he announced the continuation of the coalition. However, there is some speculation that members of parliament who have not clearly taken sides between the FPÖ and the BZÖ might opt for the former at some point as this would appear to promise better prospects for retaining their seats.
Election results
The first test for the BZÖ came in a series of Landtag elections in October 2005. In the elections to the Styrian state parliament on October 2, 2005, the BZÖ only obtained a 1.7% share of votes and clearly failed to enter the Landtag, while the FPÖ, with a percentage of 4.6%, failed by a much smaller margin. The BZÖ's leading candidate was Michael Schmid, a former Austrian minister of infrastructure.
The BZÖ did not stand in the elections in Burgenland on October 9. In the October 23 Vienna elections, it was led by former Lower Austrian state government member Hans Jörg Schimanek. However, it captured only 1.2% of votes, while the FPÖ, led by national party chairman Heinz-Christian Strache, surprised pollsters with a share of 14.9%.
As the result of these developments, prominent party members who have not clearly taken sides have called upon leaders to mend the rift. However, since the BZÖ has apparently not gained recognition in the electorate, FPÖ Chairman Heinz-Christian Strache seems to be in the better position to reunite the group under his leadership. It seems unlikely that he would accept any leaders of the BZÖ back into the party.
The BZÖ remains strong in Carinthia (where new elections are not due until 2009) under the leadership of Jörg Haider, and maintains 7 seats in the Austrian parliament, placing 5th in the 2006 Austrian legislative election.
Extreme-Right offensive
The BZÖ and the FPÖ seem to be in competition as to which can be the most openly Islamophobic. Both call for new legislation to ban the construction of minarets but the FPÖ also wants the legislation to stipulate that 'non-occidental religions' use German as the language in which they hold religious ceremonies in Austria. In Carinthia, where Haider is state premier, the BZÖ wants to amend planning laws to ensure a town's mayor must consider 'religious and cultural tradition' in considering any request for the construction of mosques or minarets
.
Freedom Party (FPÖ, led by Heinz Christian-Strache)
Austria National Democratic Party (BZÖ, led by Jörg Haider)
Stop the Foreigners
2006 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
SPÖ 1663986 35,46 68 37,16
ÖVP 1616493 34,44 66 36,07
FPÖ 519598 11,07 21 11,48
Grüne 520130 11,08 21 11,48
BZÖ 193539 4,12 7 3,83
Matin 131688 2,81 0 0,00
KPÖ 47578 1,01 0 0,00
Belgium
• National Front
The National Front is a small Belgian far-right political party. The party's leader is convicted criminal Daniel Féret.
In the 2003 general election, it won one seat in the Chamber of Representatives, with 2% of the vote. It also has two seats in the Senate. A recent poll showed that it had the backing of about 9.4% of the Wallonian voters.
In Wallonia, members of the National Front could not compete using the party name during the 2006 municipal elections, because the party failed to use the correct electoral procedure. In Brussels, the National Front will compete under its acronym.
• Belgium Flemish Block
The Vlaams Blok (VB, English: Flemish Bloc) was a Belgian, anti-immigration, nationalist and secessionist political party, calling for independence of Flanders. On November 14 2004, the party was dissolved and a new party was created under the name Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest). It was since its creation in 1978 the least moderate and notably militant right wing of the Flemish movement.
The far-right Vlaams Blok became the biggest political force in its Flemish stronghold city, Antwerp, in October 2000, taking 20 out of 50 seats on the city council. In the 1999 parliamentary elections it took 9.9% of the vote, translating under the PR system to 15 seats in the lower house. VB is fiercely anti-immigrant, openly anti-semitic and advocates Flemish self-rule. Key figure: Frank Vanhecke (VB's president) and Member of the EP.
Front National
Flemish Block
Belgium Movement against Insecurity and Immigration Abuses
New Forces Party
Reformist Political Federation
National 07 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
CD&V-N-VA 1 234 950 18,51 30 20,00
MR 835 073 12,52 23 15,33
Vlaams Belang 799 844 11,99 17 11,33
Open VLD 789 445 11,83 18 12,00
PS 724 787 10,86 20 13,33
SP.A-Spirit 684 390 10,26 14 9,33
CDH 404 077 6,06 10 6,67
Ecolo 340 378 5,10 8 5,33
Lijst Dedecker 268 648 4,03 5 3,33
Groen 265 828 3,98 4 2,67
FN 131 385 1,97 1 0,67
Bulgaria
• National Union Attack
The National Union Attack (Bulgarian: Национален съюз Атака, Natsionalen Sǎyuz Ataka; also translated as the Attack Coalition) is a nationalist political party in Bulgaria. At the last legislative elections, 25 June 2005, it won 9.0% of the popular vote and 21 out of 240 seats.
National Guard (Bojan Rassate)
Bulgaria ATAKA
National 05 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
CB 1 129 196 30,95 82 34,17
MNSII 725 314 19,88 53 22,08
MDL 467 400 12,81 34 14,17
ATAKA 296 848 8,14 21 8,75
UFD 280 323 7,68 20 8,33
DBF 234 788 6,44 17 7,08
UDL-UPA 189 268 5,19 13 5,42
Czech Republic
There are not political parties in the Parliament who could be seen as extreme right wing ones.
Although, there are several extreme right wing groups with different legal status (non-formal, civil association, political movement etc.). It is common to be a member of several of these groups at the same time. Their activities: concerts of racist bands, street fights with the leftists and people of national Party.
Following the 3rd point of the program principles, the extreme right wing groups are deeply divided concerning the `heritage´ of Nazism into, say, neo-Nazis and neo-fascists. Quite often there are disputes and street fights between these two parts.
• neo-Nazis - (e.g. Narodni odpor) follow some ideology of the Third Empire, they are pro-German and strongly racist, they mostly do not use the Czech flags, but the ones of the German Second Empire.
• neo-fascists - glorification of the fight against Germans.
The UN Human Rights Committee (UN HRC) heard on July the 13 2007 from civil society organisations on the human rights situation of Roma in the Czech Republic, in the framework of the UN HRC review of the Czech Republic’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
A group of organisations working directly on these issues – the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, the European Roma Rights Centre, Life Together and the Peacework Development Fund presented a joint submission and provided oral testimony to the UN HRC. In this submission the organisations urged the UN HRC to act firmly on ongoing, flagrant human rights abuses of Romani communities in the Czech Republic.
Issues raised include the coercive sterilisation of Romani women, an extreme form of harm under the ICCPR. Romani women have been subjected to coercive sterilisation in Czech hospitals for decades and as recently as 2004. Allegations were made on Roma life-threatening violence in the Czech Republic. Anti-Romani hate speech is also a regular part of public discourse in the Czech Republic.
The major part of the material provided to the Committee involves racial discrimination against Roma. The Czech legislature has yet to adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law. Roma in the Czech Republic are allegedly subjected to systemic discrimination in education, employment, housing, and in social services linked to child protection. There seems to be near-total impunity for racial discrimination against Roma in the Czech Republic.
Czech Republic: Independent Democrats
National Party (NS): no seats
National 06 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
ODS 1 892 475 35,38 81 40,50
CSSD 1 728 897 32,32 74 37,00
KDU-CSL 685 328 12,81 26 13,00
SZ 386 706 7,23 13 6,50
SNK Evropští demokraté 111 724 6,29 6 3,00
DENMARK
It is true that Denmark has a reputation for tolerance and liberalism but the social conservative and nationalist Danish People's Party (DPP-Dansk Folkeparti ) managed to gain people's support and after the last elections on 13 November 2007, it has a presence in the parliament with 25 seats out of 179 with 13,8 % of popular support. The Danish People's Party, not only gained 0,5 percentage points and one more seat compared with the 2005 elections but also still holds the crucial parliamentary votes needed for government.
In the past, another political far right party was quite famous. It is the Progress Party (Fremskridtspartiet) which was formed in 1973 and as a matter of fact the present leader of the DPP, Pia Kjaersgaard has been its political leader during the years 1985-1994. The Progress Party stunt for nationalism and economic liberalism. It also believed in radical tax cuts (including removing the income tax altogether), and also vowed to cut government spending. Its founder, the former lawyer Mogens Glistrup, gained huge popularity in Denmark after he appeared on Danish television, showing that he paid 0 % in income tax.
The same year that the Progress Party was formed, in 1973, it also succeeded to enter the Danish Parliament by wining 28 out of 179 seats, making it the second-largest party of the parliament. During the 1980s the party increased its influence. However it ended abruptly due to internal strife. The party gradually lost most of the support it had among the population, and in 1995, a number of party members rebelled and formed the now much more popular Danish People's Party. By the time of the 2001 parliamentary election, the Progress Party had lost almost all of its support and received less than one percent of the vote.
The Danish People's Party was founded on 6 October 1995. In 1997, hostility toward immigrants and refugees appeared to be growing in Denmark, partly against the background of rising immigrant crime. The issue was considered important enough to be included in the campaigns of all parties participating in the November municipal and regional elections and it was feared that this hostility would be translated into increased support for the extreme right-wing parties. The results showed a slight wing to the radical right, with the DPP wining 6,8 percent of the vote, making it the fourth largest in the country. Also, for the first time since the World War II, the Nazi Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Parti (Danish National Social Party-DNSP) participated in the November elections but failed to pass the 2% threshold. The DNSP had close links to the British neo-Nazi group Combat 18 and Austrian right extremists. In order to highlight their opposition to refugees, Danish neo-Nazis demonstrated that year patrolling the German border so to prevent their illegal entry from Germany. Most of the refugees are Bosnians escaping deportation from Germany. Also, the extremist Islamic fundamentalist movement Hizb-ut-Tahtir (Freedom Party- HUT) continued to operate in Denmark whereas its organ, Khalifah, printed anti-Jewish texts from the Qur'an in almost every issue.
The call for stronger control of immigration was again a central theme in the national elections held in March 1998. The Danish People's Party led by Pia Kjaersgaard was the most successful extreme right-wing party, gaining 7,4 percent of the vote and 13 seats.
Later, in the 2001 election, it won 22 seats and became the third largest party in the parliament. Although the Danish People's Party is aligned ideologically with other European far right parties, the party has also adopted some social policy issues traditionally belonging to Social Democrats. Polls have shown that many of the party's voters are former Social Democrats.
An analysis after the 2001 election stated that among unskilled workers aged under 40, 30% voted for DPP and 25 % for the Social Democrats.
The DPP supported the Conservative-Liberal coalition government, headed by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in exchange for the implementation of some of their key demands such as strict policies on immigration. The new government in order to fight arranged marriages, enacted rules that prevented Danish citizens from bringing a foreign spouse into the country unless both partners were aged 24 or over. Furthermore, some social benefits for refugees were also cut by 30-40% during their first seven years in the country and ordinary unemployment benefit being replaced by a reduced start-up aid. This measure caused the decrease of the number of economical refugees and satisfied a lot the DPP's members.
The DDP campaigns as a co-operative constitutional party and regards itself as center-right, but is often accused of being right-wing, populist, or xenophobic by those who oppose it. Some of the party's policies include to drastically reduce immigration, to oppose a reduction of Denmark's sovereignty by the European Union, to oppose a multiethnic Danish society, grants for specific research into terrorism, Islamism and cold- war history.
This time, compared with earlier elections, the Danish People’s Party also kept a relatively low profile with the party’s campaign film presenting an idyllic rural Denmark under threat from Islamist terrorism as the high point. Furthermore, even if immigration wasn’t a major issue in the campaign, the Danish People’s Party still made a strong performance and even gained vote shares compared with 2005. It is certain that the DPP is an anti-immigration party but seems that its electoral success also builds on a strong position in social policy issues.
Like other members of the party, the party leader Pia Kjaersgaard, has been accused of racism several times. The last controversy about the DPP leader was in 2003, when she lost a libel suit in the Danish Supreme Court against a political opponent who had characterized her viewpoints as racist. The court used a broad definition of racism and cited past speeches by Kjaersgaard that were critical of Islam and Islamic culture. However, is quite popular among workers and lower middle class voters who do not support elitist politicians. This is due to the image that Pia Kjaersgaard is trying to illustrate by appealing to the "common man" as a former domestic nurse who has nothing to do with traditional political class of economists and academics.
It is also important to mention that DPP is represented in the European Parliament since 1999 with one single MEP, Mogens Camre, who sits as a member of the Union for a Europe of Nations grouping (UEN). Camre has been accused of racism on several occasions, but so far his immunity has not been lifted by the European Parliament.
Denmark Danish People's Party
Progress Party
New Order
General elections 07 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
SD 881679 25,49 45 25,71
V 908910 26,28 46 26,29
RV 177234 5,12 9 5,14
KFP 359187 10,38 18 10,29
SF 451503 13,05 23 13,14
KD 30112 0,87 0 0,00
DFP 478633 13,84 25 14,29
NA 96921 2,80 5 2,86
E 74674 2,16 4 2,29
SD: Social Democratic Party
RV: Radical Left : Social Liberal Party
KD: Christian Democrats
DF: Danish People's Party: Extreme Right
KFp: Conservative People's Party V: Left : Liberal Party SF: Socialist people's Party : Leftist party
NA: New Alliance : Centre Right
E : United List : Far Left Party
FINLAND
In Finland, where exist no extreme right-wing parties in a politically meaningful sense.
The Finnish People's Blue-whites (Finnish: Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset; Swedish: Finlands Folkets Blåvita) is a Finnish association with a far-right nationalist agenda, led by the controversial political figure Olavi Mäenpää. It was founded in 1993, but it didn't become a registered political party until 2002, losing this status in 4 April 2007. It currently has one representative in the city council of Turku, held by chairman Mäenpää.
In the municipal election of 2004, the party received 3.6% of the vote in Turku, with Mäenpää getting more votes than any other candidate in the city. The party subsequently attained two seats in the city council, but the holder of the other seat, vice-chairman Timo Virtanen, was expelled from the party shortly afterwards
Estonia - There are not any extreme right wing parties in Estonia.
France
• National Front
The National Front (FN, Front national) is a French Far right, nationalist political party, founded in 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen. The FN claims to have 60,000 members. In the French presidential election of 2002, National Front candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen finished a distant second to Jacques Chirac in a runoff election.
Although the party describes itself as a "mainstream right" organization, academics and observers in the media describe the party as "far right or "extreme right". Both Le Pen and Bruno Gollnisch have been condemned for Holocaust denial.
The party opposes immigration, particularly Muslim immigration from North Africa, West Africa and the Middle East. In a standardized pamphlet delivered to all French electors in the 1995 presidential election, Jean-Marie Le Pen proposed the "sending back" of "three million non-Europeans" out of France, by "humane and dignified means".
Before the 2007 presidential election, Jean-Marie Le Pen and Bruno Mégret, who had split to create the rival party, the MNR, agreed to ally again in order not to lose votes to internal disputes. However, Le Pen still trailed in fourth place behind Nicolas Sarkozy (31%), Ségolène Royal (26%) and François Bayrou (19%), with only 11% of the vote.
The Front National was also one of several parties that backed France's 2005 rejection of the Treaty for a European Constitution. In Le Pen's opinion, France should not join any organisation that could overrule its own national decisions. The FN is the leading member of Euronat, which gathers the most radical "euronationalist" parties.
In the European Parliament, it was part of the non-inscrits parties until 2007, when it managed to set up an alliance with other euro-sceptic and nationalist parties, thus reaching the minimum number of MEPs necessary to make up a group for the pruposes of the Parliament's standing orders, dubbed Identity, Tradition, and Sovereignty and led by FN member Bruno Gollnisch.
France National Front: no seats
National Republican Movement
New Forces Party
Presidential 2007 VOTES VOTES (%)
M. Nicolas SARKOZY UMP 11 323 599 31,11
Mme Ségolène ROYAL 9 402 797 25,83
M. François BAYROU 6 750 006 18,55
M. Jean-Marie LE PEN 3 824 258 10,51
Germany
• Republican party (REP),
• German People's Union (DVU),
• National Democratic party (NPD)
The EU report "European Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenophobia" shows a shocking increase in right-wing trends in Germany.
The far-right is split between the German People's Union (DVU), the Republicans (REP) and the German National Democratic party (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD). Traditionally it has thrived in the unemployment-ridden former East German states, such as Saxony-Anhalt. The German People's Union polled nearly 13% in local elections there two years ago.
However, no party has ever passed the 5% threshold needed to gain political representation nationally. Germany has strict laws against any rehabilitation of its Nazi past, and many Germans feel a heavy moral responsibility not to allow nationalist politics to return.
The far-right parties have mobilised many supporters in the former communist East Germany, where unemployment is high. The far right party (NPD)-National Democratic Party tries to take advantage of the people’s dissatisfaction towards the economic policy that the government adopts.
Furthermore, the NPD and its supporters aspire anti- foreigner sentiments on account of their fear that foreigners will conquer Germany. This rationale propelled a couple of years ago the NPD chairman, Udo Voigt to the decision to forge an alliance with the DVU.As Udo Voigt stated, the far right parties must work together and act as it’s worthless both parties to keep on fighting against each other, taking votes away the same time that all these foreigners who are pouring into Germany will have power in Germany.
The fact that the far-right parties have managed to get into the state assemblies of Saxony and Brandenburg provoked much speculation as they considered being a threat to democracy. In the past, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government tried to ban the NPD, but this attempt failed after the constitutional court rejected its case.
In the meantime the neo-Nazis activities are omnipresent in Germany: the German "Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution", the institution set up to control extremist tendencies, recorded 15,361 right-wing extremist criminal offences for the year 2005, which in comparison with the previous year signifies an increase of 27.5 per cent. As noted by political experts, right-wing extremism has been increasingly coming to the fore since the reunification of Germany - and is challenging democracy.
Foreigner Repatriation Initiative
Free German's Workers Party
Germany German People's Union (DVU): seats at regional level
National Democrats (NPD): seats at regional level
Republican Party (REP): no seats
Elections 2005 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
SPD 16194 665 34,25 222 36,16
CDU 13136 640 27,78 180 29,32
FDP 4648 144 9,83 61 9,93
Die Linke. 4118 194 8,71 54 8,79
GRÜNE 3838 326 8,12 51 8,31
CSU 3494 309 7,39 46 7,49
NPD 748 568 1,58 0 0
REP 266 101 0,56 0 0
Extreme right represented at Regional level
Brandenbourg 04 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
SPD 372 956 31,90 33 37,50
CDU 227 036 19,42 20 22,73
PDS 326 922 27,97 29 32,95
DVU 71 003 6,07 6 6,82
Breme 07 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
SPD 101 417 36,74 33 39,76
CDU 70 832 25,66 23 27,71
Grüne 45 524 16,49 14 16,87
FDP 16 497 5,98 5 6,02
DVU 7 566 2,74 1 1,20
Saxony 04 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
CDU 855 248 41,12 55 44,35
PDS 490 495 23,58 31 25,00
SPD 204 390 9,83 13 10,48
Grünen 106 802 5,13 6 4,84
NPD 191 087 9,19 12 9,68
Greece
• Chrysi Avyi
• Popular Orthodox Rally
• Hellenic Front
Chrysi Avyi (in Greek characters: Χρυσή Αυγή; English translation: Golden Dawn) is a far right neo-Nazi party in Greece led by Nikolaos Michaloliakos. The party espouses anti-capitalist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Turkist philosophies based partially on laws of ancient Spartan society, as well as advocating more radical policies vis-à-vis nationalism, immigration, and irridentism (including putsch-style methods) unlike other far right, traditionalist movements such as the Hellenic Front and the Popular Orthodox Rally. Chrysi Avyi is also the name of a newspaper and a magazine published by that party.
Despite often being classified as a neo-Nazi party, whose symbols it openly utilises, Chysi Avyi claims the roots of its doctrine predate the National Socialist German Workers Party.
The party, which never reached as high as 1% of the vote in a national election, ceased political operation in 2005, and anti-fascists say it was absorbed by the similarly-small Patriotic Alliance. The latter ceased operations after Michaloliakos withdrew support, and in March 2007, Chrysi Avyi held its sixth congress, where it announced the resumption of their political activism.
The Popular Orthodox Rally (Greek: Λαϊκός Ορθόδοξος Συναγερμός, Laïkós Orthódoxos Synagermós), often abbreviated to ΛΑ.Ο.Σ. (LA.O.S.) as a pun on the Greek word for people, is a Greek nationalist/ populist political party, founded and led by journalist and TV station owner Georgios Karatzaferis. Karatzaferis formed LAOS in 2000, after he was expelled from New Democracy.
LAOS has comprised some extreme elements, but it now denies belonging to the far-right. It has evolved into a parliamentary party that denounces violence and attempts to express moderate views on certain social issues, while having also been criticized of anti-Semitic rhetoric.
The party received 3.8% of the vote in the 2007 elections, electing 10 members of parliament. Previously, the party failed to reach the 3% threshold of the popular vote in the 2004 elections, with 2.2%; three months later it gained 4.12% of the vote and one seat in the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections. In 2004, LAOS absorbed the nationalist Hellenic Front political party and secured support from the Party of Hellenism and the Hellenic Women's Political Party.[2] The "Popular Orthodox Rally" is a member of the Independence and Democracy group (IND/DEM) of the European Parliament.
Hellenic Front
A tiny party that didn't even register on the electoral radar in the 2000 elections, the Hellenic Front's insignificance illustrates the comparative weakness of extreme right politics in Greece.
Key figure: Makis Voridis. He was elected Member of Parliament in the 2007 elections with LAOS.
Greece: Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS)
National 07 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
ND 2,995,479 41,83 152 50,6
PASOK 2,727,853 38,10 102 34,00
KKE 583,815 8,15 22 7,33
SYN 361,211 5,04 14 4,66
LAOS 271,764 3,80 10 3,33
Hungary
• Jobbik Party
• Party for Hungarian Right and Life (MIEP)
• 64 People’s Committee
Jobbik, known for its anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and anti-gay rhetoric, is a fringe far-right political party which is not represented in parliament, but is present in several municipalities across the country.
The word jobbik is Hungarian for "more right", alluding to the fact that the party holds itself as a true, more right-wing party. The party was foremost organised by former supporters of the Hungarian Truth and Life Party (MIEP) which is considered as a radical right wing party. The anti-Semitic writing of its leader, Istvan Csurka, has led many to regard the MIEP as an extreme far-right party, with many going so far as to calling it neo-fascist. After its catastrophic defeat in the 2002 national elections and all other elections since, however, members of the MIEP frustrated at the leadership of Csurka together with party reformers who were subsequently kicked out of the party decided to form the Jobbik as an alternative to the MIEP. Apart from a very brief marriage of convenience during the 2006 national elections under the banner of "The Third Way", there has been no love lost between the two parties.
The largest right-wing opposition party, the Federation of Young Democrats (Fidesz), is playing a double game. On the one hand the party maintains close political and personal contact with the extreme right and has never clearly dissociated itself from such forces. On the other, it generally seeks to publicly distance itself from the fascists. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány speaks about the resurrection of fascism, while Fidesz, the bigger opposition party accuses him with inciting hysteria. The governing socialists, in coalition with the junior governing liberals, warned that a new chapter in the history of the right had been opened by the intention of the Guard to arm itself. They called on former prime minister Viktor Orbán's opposition Fidesz Party to break all relations with Jobbik, with whom the Fidesz conservatives maintain a coalition in 27 local constituencies.
The calls were initially not heeded by Fidesz, which once again faced attacks over its blurry division lines with the extreme right, but gradually its members have condemned the new movement more decisively.
During Orbán’s tenure as prime minister between 1998 and 2002, many international observers and sectors of the left considered he abused the theme of nationalism in pursuing his political goals. If elections were held today, Fidesz would return to power, polls say. The socialists were elected for a second term in 2006, repeating the 2002 results.
The National Guard as it is called, was inaugurated Aug. 25 by 56 founding members, a number that coincides with the 1956 rebellion against Soviet troops. Chairman Tamas Poszpischek claims the group is a "strictly non-partisan organisation that focuses exclusively on the protection of the homeland and tries to avoid the political quagmire."
But the Guard's black uniform, their salute "For a better future!" and the fact it was backed by the extreme-right Jobbik Party (Movement for a Better Hungary, a relatively recent party supported by about 1 percent of the population, and considered xenophobic) raised eyebrows among concerned observers.
Some of the new 600 members of the controversial new extreme-right wing "Magyar Garda" or Hungarian guard stand during their swearing-in ceremony on the Heros' square of Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007. The first 56 members of the Magyar Garda, wearing black uniforms bearing a variation on the red-and-white Arpad Stripes associated with Hungary's Nazi-aligned Arrow Cross party of WWII, took oaths on Aug 25, 2007. The creation of the guard by extreme-right party Jobbik had raised fears among the Jewish community both in Hungary and internationally. Prior to the establishment of the Magyar Garda, Hungarian Jews had been warning that anti-Semitism was on the rise
Hungary: The Life and Truth party (MIEP-JOBBIK)
National 06 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
MSZP 2 336 705 43,21 186 48,19
SZDSZ 351 612 6,50 18 4,66
MSZP-SZDSZ 0,00 6 1,55
MDF 272 831 5,045,04 11 2,85
MIEP-JOBBIK 119 007 2,20
FIDESZ-FKGP 2 272 979 42,03 164 42,49
MSZP : Parti socialiste hongrois
FIDESZ : Fédération des citoyens hongrois (parti de droite)
SZDSZ : Fédération des démocrates libres (parti de centre droit)
MIEP : Parti de la vérité et de la vie hongroise
MDF : Forum démocratique hongrois
Ireland - There are not any extreme right wing parties in Ireland, but there exist some social movements and organisations against immigration.
Italy
The National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale, AN), founded from the dissolution of the Movimento Sociale Italiano -the Social Movement- as well as), are the two Italian relevant extreme right parties represented in the Parliament. The Tricolour Flame (Movimento Sociale-Fiamma Tricolore, MsFt and the Alternativa sociale are represented in the European Parliament.
Gianfranco Fini, leader of Alleanza Nazionale and deputy Prime Minister in the Berlusconi's government and Foreign Affaires Minister from 2004 to 2006, labeled the issued by the fascist regime in 1938 as "infamous". He also considered fascism part of an era of "absolute evil": AN's evolution under Gianfranco Fini has seen it reintroduced into the political mainstream. As result, Alessandra Mussolini left the party and formed Social Action.
The Northern League (Lega Nord, LN) was born as movement in the Northern regions, particularly in Lombardia (Lega Lombarda), Piemonte (Piemont autonomista) Veneto (Liga Veneta), where already existed as regional movements; the constitutional congress took place in Milan in 1991 and the Northern league reached its highest popularity in 1992 in the path of the "clean hands" action.
Alternativa Sociale (AS), a three-party cartel led by Alessandra Mussolini, which includes Mussolini's own Libertà di Azione movement, Roberto Fiore's Forza Nuova and Adriano Tilgher's Fronte Sociale Nazionale, as well as Luca Romagnoli's Fiamma Tricolore party (FT) were included in Berlusconi's coalition in the 2006 elections; Romagnoli, MEP, said that he had 'no means of affirming or denying the historical existence of gas chambers'. Romagnoli was placed under investigation following remarks he made at a rally in Milan in March during which FT supporters gave fascist salutes, and shouted 'Duce, Duce!'
During the general election campaign of 2001the focus was put on the inadequacy of the immigration laws passed by the centre-left government in 1998. Thus adopted, the Bossi-Fini law reduced channels of regular entrance for immigrants. Anti immigrant discourse is framed in a wider negative ethnic pluralism and a Islamophobic discourse.
National elections 06 VOIX VOIX (%) SIEGES SIEGES (%)
Maison des libertés 19346412 49,45 281 44,60
FORZA ITALIA 9247791 23,64 140 22,22
ALLEANZA NAZIONALE 4706654 12,03 71 11,27
UDC 2645745 6,76 39 6,19
LEGA NORD 1768293 4,52 26 4,13
ALTER.SOC.MUSSOLINI 262512 0,67
FIAMMA TRICOLORE 232446 0,59
DEM.CRIST.-NUOVO PSI 285744 0,73 4 0,63
P.LIBERALE ITALIANO 12334 0,03
AMBIENTA-LISTA 17574 0,04
PENSIONATI UNITI 28317 0,07
NO EURO 58757 0,15
S.O.S. ITALIA 6956 0,02
PER ITALIA NEL MONDO 73289 0,19
L'Unione 19461138 49,74 348 55,24
UNIONE 422330 1,08 6 0,95
L'ULIVO 11928362 30,49 220 34,92
RIF.COM. 2229604 5,70 41 6,51
U.D.EUR POPOLARI 544245 1,39 10 1,59
COMUNISTI ITALIANI 884912 2,26 16 2,54
FED.DEI VERDI 783944 2,00 15 2,38
SVP 182703 0,47 4 0,63
DI PIETRO IT. VALORI 904591 2,31 17 2,70
LA ROSA NEL PUGNO 991049 2,53 18 2,86
I SOCIALISTI 115105 0,29
PART.PENS. 333983 0,85
LIGA FRONTE VENETO 22010 0,06
LISTA CONSUMATORI 73720 0,11
ALL.LOMB.AUT. 44580 0,11
AUT.LIB.DEMOCRATIE 1 0,16
La maison des libertés L'Union
FI : Forza Italia (Parti de droite) DS : Démocrates de gauche (post-communiste)
AN : Alliance nationale (Parti post-fascite) La Marguerite (parti de centre gauche)
LN : Ligue du Nord Verdi : les verts
UDC : Union des démocrates chrétiens PRC : Refondation communiste
Nuevo PSI : Nouveau parti socialiste italien Les socialistes
AS: Alternative sociale (parti d'extrême droite) IdV : Italie des valeurs (parti libéral)
Fiamma tricolore (parti post-fasciste) PDCI : Parti des communistes italiens
LATVIA
Nacionālā Spēka Savienība (National Power Union, abbreviated NSS; the party translates its name as National Power Unity, sometimes it is also translated as Union of National Force) is a far-right nationalist political party in Latvia. It is a member of the European National Front.
It was founded in 2003 by Aigars Prusis and Viktors Birze on the base of the human rights group Helsinki-86.
In the 2005 municipal elections to the Liepāja city council, the NSS received 400 votes, or 1.86% of the total, and no seats. In the 2006 parliamentary election, the NSS received 1172 votes, or 0.13% of the total, and no seats.
NSS is known for a number of controversial activities. In 2005, it commemorated the 105-th birthday of Herberts Cukurs, 1930s Latvian aviator and alleged World War II Nazi war criminal. NSS claims that they celebrated the aviation achievements of Cukurs and that there is no sufficient evidence to conclude that Cukurs was involved in war crimes.
NSS participiated in the protests against the gay pride parade in Riga on July 22, 2006. Prior to the parade, the chairman of NSS, Viktors Birze threatened that the anti-gay pride protests will not be limited to non-violent methods. As of May 2007, Birze and at least one other NSS member are under investigation for attacks against the parade (throwing objects at the participants of the parade and police officers). After the events, NSS admitted their presence in the anti-pride protests but denied that their members were the ones throwing objects at the pride participants.
On May 9, 2007, NSS commemorated the anniversary of the end of World War II by marching towards the monument for the Soviet soldiers and attempting to place a wreath made of barbed wire at the monument, to emphasize the ordeals of Latvia after the Soviet Union winning the World War II. They were prevented from placing the barbed wire wreath by the police.
Latvia: National Power Union: no seats
National 02 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
JL 237452 23,98 26 26,00
PCTVL 189088 19,09 25 25,00
TP 165246 16,68 20 20,00
ZZS 93759 9,47 12 12,00
LPP 94752 9,57 10 10,00
TB/LNNK 53396 5,39 7 7,00
JL : Parti de l'ère nouvelle
PCTVL : Parti pour les droits civils
TP : Parti populaire
ZZS : Union des verts et des agriculteurs
TB-LNNK : Union des conservateurs pour la patrie et la liberté
LC : Alliance de la voie lettonne
LSDSP : Parti travailliste social-démocrate
Lithuania: Lietuviu Nacionaline Partija Jaunoji Lietuva (Lithuanian National Party Young Lithuania):no seats
National 04 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
Parti travailliste 340 035 28,44 40 28,57
Parti social-démocrate lituanien-Nouvelle Union 246 852 20,65 31 22,14
Union patriotique 176 409 14,75 26 18,57
Coalition Paksas pour l'ordre et la justice 135 807 11,36 10 7,14
Union du centre et libérale 109 872 9,19 19 13,57
Parti de l'Union des paysans-Parti de la Nouvelle démocratie 78 902 6,60 12 8,57
Luxembourg
At the time of reporting there is no extremist or racist party in Luxembourg. The last extreme right party, the “Nationalbewegung” (National Movement) was established in 1989. At the legislative elections that same year it gained fewer than 3% of the votes and failed to elect a deputy. Since its appearance in the political scene, this group had sought to establish its main focus in xenophobia. In the mid-1990s the party closed down, since other extreme right movements had settled more or less permanently in other countries neighbouring Luxembourg. In fact, the NB (Nationalbewegung) was dissolved during 1996. This failure was not surprising in a country where the suffering inflicted by the Nazi occupiers is far from being forgotten. We would note that extremist movements were born and died in rapid succession in Luxembourg after the Second World War. And it is unlikely an extreme right or racist party could settle definitively in the Grand Duchy. Nevertheless it is as a consequence of the absence of extreme right parties that their unifying themes like anti-Semitism, xenophobia, racism and fears for the national identity can become large-scale vehicles.
Luxebourg: Nationalbewegung: no seats
National 04 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
CSV 1 105 630 35,79 24 40,00
LSAP 785 490 25,43 14 23,33
DP 460 867 14,92 10 16,67
Déi Greng 356 563 11,54 7 11,67
ADR 279 320 9,04 5 8,33
CSV : Parti chrétien social
LSAP : Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois
DP : Parti démocratique (parti libéral)
Déi Greng : Parti vert
ADR : Parti pour la diminution de la fiscalité
Déi Link : Parti de gauche
Malta
• Imperium Europa: no seats
Imperium Europa("Empire Europe" in Latin) is a New Right Maltese political party. It was founded in 2000 by Norman Lowell, who is also the current leader.
The stated goal of the party is to unite all European natives under one flag, hence the name "Imperium Europa" (Empire Europe), leading to "a Europid bond forged through Spirituality closely followed by Race, nurtured through High culture, protected by High Politics, enforced by the The Elite."
The idea is to unite with Identity, Tradition, and Sovereignty, rename it Nova Europa (New Europe), and assume a leadership position.
The party advocates a temporary national unity government, a dual system of elitist and democratic elements in order to protect the elite minority whilst simultaneously allowing democratic freedom. This would occur by having the populace democratically elect a President, and in turn, the President would select experts from every field to form a technocratic Cabinet, similar to that formed by Lamberto Dini in 1995. Concurrently, there would still be the current Parliament, informing the nation of the cabinet’s policies while simultaneously gathering feedback.
National 2003 VOIX VOIX (%) SIEGES SIEGES (%)
Nationalist Party 146 172 51,79 35 53,8
Labour Party 134 092 47,51 30 46,2
Democratic Alternative (Greens) 1 929 0,68
Independent 20 0,01
NETHERLANDS
The Centre Democrats (CD, Dutch: Centrum Democraten) was a Dutch nationalist political party espousing an anti-immigrant program. The CD was methodically isolated by the other parties in the Dutch Parliament.
The party was founded in November 1984 by Hans Janmaat, it was a split from the more xenophobic Centrumpartij (CP, Centre Party). Janmaat thought that by stearing a more moderate course the CP would able to attract more voters at the polls. He came into conflict over this with his fellow party-members and after being removed from the party-ranks he founded the Centre Democrats. The CD tried to profile themselves as a more acceptable form of the CP. The slogans they used were more moderate and less explicit then those of the CP: instead of "Own People First" (Eigen volk eerst) their program was called "East, West, Home Best" (Oost West Thuis Best, a Dutch proverb). A reconciliation meeting of the Centrum Democrats and Centrum Party on the March 29, 1986 in Kedichem, was made into a disaster by anti-fascists. A group of anti-fascist activists set the hotel of the meeting afire, ruining the place and causing permanent invalidity to Wil Schuurman, who would later become a member of parliament. No attempts to reconcile would be made thereafter. The CD, like the CP, was unable to obtain a seat in the 1986 election.
After the 1986 elections the CD begins to work on its image and its grass roots support: this pays of and in 1989 the CD wins one seat, filled by Wil Schuurman. In the 1990 municipal elections the CD wins eleven seats. They win seats in Amsterdam and the Hague, in the latter one is filled by Wil Schuurman. In several neighbourhoods of Amsterdam the party wins more than 25% of votes.
The members of other political parties in the Dutch parliament refused to cooperate with the CD, inspired by the Belgian cordon sanitaire around the Vlaams Blok. Meanwhile the electoral success is overtakes the party and Janmaat begins to make very controversial statements in the media. He claims that Ernst Hirsch-Ballin, the Minister of Justice, should stepdown because he is Jewish and he states that he is very glad that with the death of PVDA minister Ien Dales who had always fought rising intolerance. The cordon sanitair turned out to be counterproductive. 77 council seats were obtained in the 1994 municipal elections, and although polled at a higher result, 3 seats in the parliamentary elections later in that year. Wil Schuurman and Cor Zonneveld join Janmaat in parliament. Although trying to be more varied, the 'foreigner issue' remained central to the party's rhetoric, both inside and outside of the parliament. Both Janmaat and Schuurman will be convicted of racism on multiple instances by Dutch courts. Janmaat, who serves as both chair of the parliamentary party and chair of the party's organization rules the party with an iron fist. This results in multiple party members being stripped of their membership. The infighting caused to be destructive to the party, which in 1998 lost all three seats in parliament.
Dissolution
The party continues to exist until the present day. It did not participate in the 2002 elections. With the passing of Janmaat in 2002 it is unlikely any future participation in elections will be forthcoming.
Some observers see a close ideological links between the CD and Pim Fortuyn's party, they both agitated against immigration and the multicultural society, Fortuyn however maintained a more liberal program.
The CD started out as a marginal nationalist party, with a strong antipathy for the multicultural society and immigration. It fostered a more moderate image than its predecessor the Centre Party: instead of "Own People First" (Eigen Volk Eerst) the CDs program was called "East, West, Home Best" (Oost West Thuis Best, a Dutch proverb). It also used the slogan "Full is Full" (Vol is Vol) to campaign against immigration.
It also favoured mandatory AIDS tests, the death penalty, more direct democracy and environmental conservation
Center Party
Center Democrats
Netherlands Dutch People's Union
National People=s Party
Pim Fortuyn: no seats
National 06 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
CDA 2608 573 26,51 41 27,33
P.v.d.A. 2085 077 21,19 33 22,00
SP 1630 803 16,58 25 16,67
VVD 1443 312 14,67 22 14,67
Groep Wilders / Partij voor de Vrijheid 579 490 5,89 9 6,00
GROENLINKS 453 054 4,60 7 4,67
ChristenUnie 390 969 3,97 6 4,00
D66 193 232 1,96 3 2,00
SGP 153 266 1,56 2 1,33
Partij voor de Dieren 179 988 1,83 2 1,33
Fortuyn 20 956 0,21
POLAND
Samoobrona
Samoobrona Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej (Self Defense of the Republic of Poland) was founded by Lepper, a former member of the Communist Party, in 1992. With a mixture of social promises and nationalist, xenophobic agitation, combined with conspiracy theories, it sought to appeal to the numerous Polish small farmers and peasants who had been driven into economic ruin by the introduction of the free-market economy.
Samoobrona opposes the European Union and NATO, and demands protective duties for agricultural products as well as a tightening up of criminal law. It denounces Poland’s widespread corruption and accuses the ruling elite of selling off the country’s national wealth to foreigners, leaving many Poles in poverty. Lepper agitates in particular against Jews and Germans. “For us it is not the Jews who are the most dangerous people, but the Germans,” he said at one meeting. He is, however, prepared to make an exception for one German and is on record praising Hitler’s labor policies.
Lepper made a name for himself with his loutish behavior, which has resulted in a number of prosecutions and detentions. He insulted his political opponents, organised violent peasant protests, beat up bailiffs and even shaved a Star of David into victims’ scalps. Three days after his appointment to the Polish cabinet, he was condemned by a Warsaw court to 15 months’ detention on probation for accusing two ministers of corruption in 2001. An event which in most any other country would have led to an immediate resignation from office remained without consequence in Poland.
Despite Lepper’s spectacular activities, Samoobrona led a shadowy existence in the 1990s. The party only came into the limelight with Poland’s entry into the European Union. In 2001, the party was able to register more than 10 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections and became the third largest party. In the meantime, the party had largely ditched its social demands and adapted its programme to that of the government party. What remains is chauvinism and demands for increased authoritarian measures.
The LPR
The league of Polish families (LPR) is younger than Samoobrona but has deeper roots in the historical tradition of Polish nationalism.
Along with the Law and Justice Party (PiS), the LPR emerged from the ruins of the Election Action Solidarity (AWS), which filled the post of head of government from 1997 to 2001 and then lost all popular support due to its disastrous social policies. While the Kaczynski brothers assemble in the PiS conservative supporters of a police state, the LPR founders orient towards anti-Semitic and extreme rightist circles, and the party has become a repository for the extreme right-wing fringe in Poland.
The LPR chairman, Roman Giertych, originates from a political dynasty. His grandfather Jedrzej Giertych was a close political collaborator of the Polish national democrat Roman Dmowski; his father Maciej Giertych helped to refound the National Democratic Party in 1989 and is still active politically.
Particularly after the Russian revolution of 1905, in which Dmowski fought on the side of the Tsar against rebellious Polish socialists, anti-Semitism played an increasingly important role in his programme. In 1912, he demanded the boycott of Jewish businesses in Poland and appealed for the confiscation of Jewish property and the emigration of the entire Jewish population.
The current programme of the LPR contains many elements stemming from the tradition of Dmowski: chauvinism, hatred of foreigners, anti-Semitism (under conditions where virtually all Polish Jews were exterminated by the Nazis!) and Catholic fundamentalism. The LPR is strictly opposed to the right to abortion, homosexual relationships and any legislation that counters Catholic moral teachings.
In 1989, the 18-year-old Roman Giertych revived the organisation All Polish Youth, which in the 1930s had functioned as the militant youth organisation of Dmowski’s National Party (SN), characterised by its nationalist and anti-Semitic activities. At that time, the youth organisation used National Socialist symbols such as the Hitlerite Sieg Heil salute and was responsible for anti-Semitic excesses at several universities where it was able in a number of cases to enforce the complete exclusion of Jewish students.
Giertych’s new edition of the All Polish Youth also employs fascist symbols. Last autumn, two 27-year-old LPR parliamentary deputies were photographed making a Hitlerite salute, causing a political scandal. Giertych’s All Polish Youth is also known for the activities of the skinhead thugs in its ranks, who have used brutal methods to oppose demonstrations by homosexuals or art exhibitions that do not correspond to the extremely limited horizons of this organisation.
The LPR has received considerable propagandistic support from the radio station Maria, which has one of the largest listener audiences in the country. The station is headed by Tadeusz Rydzyk, a priest of the Catholic Redemptionist Order supported by sections of the Catholic episcopacy. Also belonging to the same Catholic media empire is Poland’s most popular daily paper Nasz Dziennik (Our Daily News) and the television station Trwam (I persist).
Along with religious programmes, radio Maria also transmits very clear political messages. Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, as well as agitation against homosexuals and foreigners, are a firm component of the evening programme. According to Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the radio station transmits “xenophobia, chauvinism and anti-Semitism.” A commentary by the station in March declared that while Poles were fighting for democracy in Ukraine and Belarus, they were being stabbed in the back by Jews. And another comment stated that under the cover of remuneration Jews were demanding “extortion funds” from Poland and humiliating the nation by presenting themselves as the main victims of Auschwitz.
In their election campaign last year, the two Kaczynski brothers had relied on the station to win support from the more backward layers in the rural areas of the country. They stressed their own religious beliefs and demanded the unity of the Catholic Church and the Polish nation. Radio Maria reacted by calling for support for the PiS in the parliamentary elections and for Lech Kaczynski in the subsequent presidential elections. Since then, the station has advanced to the status of a sort of court correspondent. Cabinet members give regular interviews, and exclusive information is repeatedly made public by the station.
The Vatican and Polish bishops vouchsafed the activities of radio Maria for many years. Even if the Polish Pope did not agree with all of the station’s comments, Maria was willing to transmit his own conservative moral views to up to 4 million listeners. Only in November of last year did the successor to Pope John, the German Joseph Ratzinger, express some mild criticism for the first time—after being urged to do so by a handful of more liberal Polish bishops. Radio Maria reacted with an attack on the Pope, whom they accused of having a “terrible fear of being described as an anti-Semite,” because he was German.
Poland: Samoobrona (Self-Defense) (SRP)
League of Polish Families (LPR)
National elections 07 VOIX VOIX (%) SIEGES SIEGES (%)
PPP 160476 0,99
LPR 209171 1,30
PiS 5183477 32,11 166 36,17
PO 6701010 41,51 209 45,53
PSL 1437638 8,91 31 6,75
Samoobrona 247335 1,53
Wyborców 32462 0,20
LiD (SLD+SDPL+PD+UP) 2122981 13,15 53 53 11,55
LiD : Gauche et démocrates (parti social-démocrate)
PSL : Parti paysan polonais
PO : Plate-forme civique (Libéral)
PiS : Droit et justice (Conservateur)
LPR : Ligue des familles polonaises (parti ultra conservateur)
Samoobrona : Autodéfense (Extrême droite)
Portugal
• The National Renewal Party
The National Renewal Party (Partido Nacional Renovador) is a populist far-right political party in Portugal, without parliamentary representation.
It is a nationalist party, very close to the French Front National. Although fascist parties are forbidden under the Portuguese Constitution, this party is legal, positioning itself as nationalist. One of the party's main slogans is "Portugal to the Portuguese!".
Since June 2005 the party is led by José Pinto-Coelho.
The PNR has been accused of promoting discrimination based on racial, religious and sexual grounds and some of its propaganda of subtly inciting to violence and hatred toward certain groups such as immigrants and homosexuals (the PNR, however, rejects such claims).
The question of whether the party should be (or not) illegalized has been, and still is, a matter of discussion in Portugal especially because the Portuguese Constitution forbids any kind of discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, gender or religion.
Although the party officially rejects connections to neo-nazi racist movements, many members and/or sympathizers of those groups are affiliated to the party.
In the July 2007 Lisbon mayoral elections the PNR candidate, José Pinto-Coelho, obtained 1.501 votes (0,77%).
The party has a youth section, Juventude Nacionalista (Nationalist Youth).
• Popular party
Portuguese parliamentary elections held this March saw the Popular party win 14 seats, after polling almost 9% of the vote. The fiercely anti-immigration party, led by crusading rightwing journalist Paulo Portas, is now part of a rightwing coalition. Mr Portas has pledged to introduce tight immigration limits and to prevent the transfer of further national powers to the EU.
Portugal: National Renewal Party (PNR): no seats
Other movements: Orgulho Branco
Frente de Direita Nacional(FDN)
Aliança Nacional (AN)
National 05 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
PS 2 571 761 46,40 119 52,65
PPD/PSD 1 638 931 29,57 73 32,30
PCP-PEV 432 139 7,80 14 6,19
CDS-PPCDS-PP 414 855 7,48 12 5,31
B.E. 364 296 6,57 8 3,54
Romania
• The Greater Romania Party
The Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare, PRM) is a Romanian extremist political party. It is led by Corneliu Vadim Tudor. The party is sometimes referred to in English as the Great Romania Party (verbatim translation).
It promotes strongly nationalist policies and is seen as the most right-wing of the major Romanian parties. The party's philosophy has often been characterized as xenophobic, anti-ethnic Hungarian, anti-Roma, homophobic, Antisemitic, and irredentist. PRM's rhetoric has also focused extensively on Romania's pervasive problem of high level corruption, a top concern of many average Romanians and an issue that has gained votes for the PRM, even from those who do not wholly agree with the party's strongly nationalistic ideology.
It briefly supported in the parliament the Romanian government from 1993 to 1995 (Nicolae Văcăroiu's cabinet). In 2000, Tudor received the second largest number of votes in Romania's presidential elections, partially as a result of protest votes lodged by Romanians frustrated with the fractionalization and mixed performance of the 1996-2000 Romanian Democratic Convention and Democrat Party government. Tudor's second place position ensured he would compete in the second round run-off against former president and Romanian Social Democratic Party (PDSR) candidate Ion Iliescu, who won by a large margin. Parallels are often drawn with the situation in France two years later, when far right Front National Party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen similarly drew the second largest number of votes and was elevated, but defeated, in the presidential run-off against Jacques Chirac.
PRM's five former MEPs joined the group of far-right parties in the European Parliament that included the French National Front and Austrian Freedom Party, giving them sufficient numbers to form an official bloc, called Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty. The abandon by these five MEPs led to the dissolution of the ITS group.
• After the 1992 elections, PRM polled less than 4% of the vote and won 22 seats in Romanian legislative and it was part of the governmental coalition (called the Red Quadrilateral) between 1993 and 1995.
• At the elections of 1996, PRM and Tudor polled less than 5% of the vote, still achieving 27 seats in Romanian legislative assemblies.
• After the elections in 2000, PRM was the second-largest party in the Romanian parliament. The party polled 23% of the vote, winning 126 seats in both of the Romanian legislative assemblies. In the presidential elections, Tudor polled 33% of the popular vote, being defeated after the second ballot by Ion Iliescu.
• In 2004 Vadim Tudor scored third, with 12.57% of the vote, while PRM scored 13.2%.
• In 2007 at European elections (November, 25), PRM couldn’t pass the threshold (5%).
The New Generation – Christian Democratic Party (PNG-CD)
The New Generation – Christian Democratic Party (Partidul Noua Generaţie-Creştin Democrat, PNG-CD) is a Romanian extreme right party. The party was created in 2000 as a centrist grouping around former Mayor of Bucharest, Viorel Lis, and it was taken over in January 2004 by businessman George (“Gigi”) Becali, who became its leader. He was candidate in the Romanian presidential election, 2004, placing sixth out of twelve candidates; with 1.77% of the votes cast (184,560 votes). The multi-millionaire boss of the champion Steaua Bucharest football club, Becali made his fortune in real estate after the fall of communism to become one of Romania's richest men and the most popular politician. His political views are extreme-nationalistic, inspired by interwar Romanian fascism (Iron Guard), whose symbols he uses. George Becali is an exotic character, capable of fascinating a great part of the masses. Hereby, PNG-CD is a one-man party, without personalities and territorial structures. The sympathizers of the party are young people, without higher studies, discontent with politicians. The electorate of PNG-CD also inherited a part of the electorate traditionally voting for the left plus some of PRM voters.
In the last legislative elections, on November 28, 2004, the New Generation Party won 2.2% of the popular vote but no seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. In the European elections, on November 25, 2007, the party could not surpass the electoral threshold of 5% because of the electoral floating and absenteeism and did not won seats in the European Parliament.
Romania: Partidul România Mare (Greater Romania Party)
Partidul Noua Generaţie-Creştin Democrat (New Generation – Christian Democratic Party)
Parliamentary Elections 2004 Votes Votes (%) Seats
Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare)
1,316,751 13.0 48
New Generation Party (Partidul Noua Generaţie)
227,443 2.2 -
European Elections 2007 Votes Votes (%) Seats
New Generation Party (Partidul Noua Generaţie)
248.863 4,85% -
Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare)
212.596 4,15% -
Slovenia
There are no extreme right parties in Slovenia
National Elections 2004 VOIX VOIX (%) SIEGES SIEGES (%)
SDS 281 710 29,08 29 34,94
LDS 220 848 22,80 23 27,71
ZLSD 98 527 10,17 10 12,05
Nsi-KLS 88 073 9,09 9 10,84
DeSUS 66 032 6,82 4 4,82
SNP 60 750 6,27
LDS :Démocratie libérale de Slovénie
SLS : Parti populaire slovène
SDS : Parti démocrate de Slovénie
SKD : Chrétiens démocrates de Slovénie
ZLSD : La liste unie des sociaux-démocrates
DeSUS : Parti démocratique des pensionnés de Slovénie
SNS : Parti national slovène
Slovakia
The Slovak National Party (Slovak: Slovenská národná strana, SNS) is a nationalist political party in Slovakia. It was founded in December 1989 and sees itself as an ideological heir of the historical Slovak National Party. The party declares its three pillars: Christian, national and social. The party characterizes itself as centre-right, however it is frequently described as ultra-nationalist.
The SNS is part of the current governing coalition led by the social democratic party Smer- SD. The formation of this coalition resulted in Smer - SD being suspended from its membership of the Party of European Socialists (PES) on October 12, 2006. The PES considers SNS as a "political party which incites or attempts to stir up racial or ethnic prejudices and racial hatred.
Between the years 2001 and 2005 there was a Real Slovak National Party (Pravá slovenská národná strana, PSNS), a party of SNS splinters, which remerged with SNS later. Since 2005, there is also a United Slovak National Party (Zjednotená slovenská národná strana, ZSNS), also formed of former SNS members. In February 2006, PSNS changed its name into the Slovak National Coalition - Slovak Mutuality (Slovenská národná koalícia - Slovenská vzájomnosť). However, only the Slovak National Party is currently relevant.
In the parliamentary election of 17 June 2006, the party won 11.6% of the popular vote and 20 out of 150 seats. Currently, the party has 19 seats.
National Elections 06 VOIX VOIX (%) SIEGES SIEGES (%)
SMER 671185 29,14 50 33,33
SDKU 422815 18,35 31 20,67
SNS 270230 11,73 20 13,33
SMK 269111 11,68 20 13,33
HZDS 202540 8,79 15 10,00
Kresťanskodemokratické hnutie 191443 8,31 14 9,3
HZDS: Mouvement pour la Slovaquie démocratique
SDKU: Coalition démocratique slovaque
SMER: Parti social-démocrate slovaque
SMK-MKP: Parti de la coalition hongroise
SNS: Parti national slovaque
KSS: Parti communiste slovaque
SPAIN
In Spain the extreme right parties don't have any seats n the parliament and they are irrelevant in the local and regional governments. Nevertheless, extreme right political parties exist: Democracia Nacional, Falange Española...
The increasing of immigration is in the basis of the outbreak of specific racial violence. Confrontations between extremist groups have taken place recently
SWEDEN
• National Democrat Party
The National Democrats (Nationaldemokraterna, ND) is a minor political party in Sweden, formed by a faction of the Sweden Democrats in October 2001. The party describes itself as a democratic nationalist ("national democratic") and ethnopluralist party. The general media and other observers frequently designate the party as xenophobic and/or racist instead.
In its 2006 general election manifesto, the party writes: "For years the social democrats have pursued a pure liberalist right-wing policy. They have bended their backs for the global market forces and opened up our country for the large companies to greedily grab.
We know that Sweden can stand good in the competition with other countries, but then the state need side with the Swedish workers'." In the general election the party gained 3,064 votes (0.06%) in the elections and has representation in two municipalities south of Stockholm.
In the party program it is stated that non-white immigration should be stopped so that coloreds don't assimilate into the Swedish population. The culture should be traditionally Swedish; thus, the National Democrats advocates a ban on mosques and "unhealthy artworks and buildings".
No foreign institutions or companies should be able to own media. ND also says that they want to "strengthen democracy" by limiting the right to vote. They say the most important requirement to be able to vote is to have a general knowledge of politics. Furhermore, a very popular and reoccurring part of ND campaigns target an alleged over-representation of immigrant groups in crime statistics with strong focus on sex crimes.
Campaigning before the 2004 European Parliament election, Nick Griffin of the British National Party visited Sweden and the National Democrats to give the party his endorsement
General elections 06 VOTES VOTES (%) SEATS SEATS (%)
M 1 456 014 26,23 97 27,79
C 437 389 7,88 29 8,31
FP 418 395 7,54 28 8,02
KD 365 998 6,59 24 6,88
S 1 942 625 34,99 130 37,25
V 324 722 5,85 22 6,30
MP 291 121 5,24 19 5,44
V : Parti de la gauche
S : Parti ouvrier social-démocrate
C : Parti du centre
FP : Parti populaire libéral
M : Parti du rassemblement modéré
KD : Les démocrates chrétiens
MP : Parti de l’environnement : les verts
UNITED KINGDOM
• British National Party
The British National Party (BNP) is a far right political party in the United Kingdom. The BNP has its roots in the New National Front, founded in 1980 by John Tyndall, a former chairman of the National Front (NF). In 1982, the New National Front and a faction of the then-disintegrating British Movement led by Ray Hill merged to form the new British National Party.
According to its constitution, the BNP is "committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration. It advocates the repeal of all anti-discrimination legislation, and restricts party membership to "indigenous British ethnic groups deriving from the class of ‘Indigenous Caucasian".
In the early 1990s, the party saw a growth in popularity mainly in London and the urban south east, and especially in the borough of Tower Hamlets where perceived increasing immigration from Bangladesh in an area of housing pressure led to the campaign "Defend Rights for Whites".
Nowdays, the leader of BNP is Nick Griffin after a contested leadership election in1999. Griffin began a programme of modernising the BNP's image, rephrasing the policy of the compulsory repatriation of non-whites and rewording it as a "firm encouragement" for voluntary repatriation. The party has increasingly positioned itself against Islam, which Griffin has repeatedly called "wicked and vicious". Furthermore, in addition to the reintroduction of corporal punishment for petty criminals and vandals, and the reintroduction of capital punishment for paedophiles, terrorists and murderers where their guilt has been proven to be beyond doubt (for example by DNA testing), the BNP promises a mandatory jail term for anyone assaulting an National Health Service worker. Party leaders say the BNP would introduce what it calls "restorative justice", meaning that petty criminals would pay fines to the victims instead of to the government.The BNP states it would withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union.
However, since Griffin took over its leadership, the BNP has become less extreme, promoting similar policies to the Euronationalist approach adopted by a number of far right European counterparts, such as the Austrian Freedom Party set up by Jörg Haider.
In the wake of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the BNP released leaflets featuring images of the bombed Route 30 bus and the slogan "Maybe now it's time to start listening to the BNP." In the 2005 UK general election, the BNP received 0.7% of the popular vote, finishing eighth overall and in the Welsh Assembly Election 2007 they came 5th overall. Mainstream political parties in the UK marginalise the BNP, and the party has been strongly criticised by Conservative Party leader David Cameron, former Liberal Democrats leader Sir Menzies Campbell, and former Labour Party Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Events in the run up to the 2006 local elections seemed to show an increase in support for the BNP. The increase in support for the BNP was described by some as a protest vote due to voter alienation with the three mainstream parties (Labour, Conservatives, and the Liberal-Democrats). On 5 May 2006, the results of the 2006 local elections showed a marked increase for the BNP.
The party presented about 350 candidates and this more than doubled the number of seats held by the BNP.
At its founding, the BNP was explicitly racist. In October 1990, the BNP was described by the European Parliament's committee on racism and xenophobia as an "openly Nazi party... whose leadership have serious criminal convictions". When asked in 1993 if the BNP was racist, its deputy leader Richard Edmonds said, "We are 100 per cent racist, yes".Founder John Tyndall proclaimed that "Mein Kampf is my bible".
The BNP requires that all members must be members of the "Indigenous Caucasian" "racial group". The party does not regard non-white people as being British, even if they have been born in the UK and are British citizens. Instead, Griffin has stated that 'non-Europeans who stay', while protected by British law, 'will be regarded as permanent guests'.
Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial
Both the BNP and its leader, Nick Griffin, have historically promoted anti-Semitism and holocaust denial.
The BNP has contested seats in England, Wales and Scotland but no BNP candidate has ever won a seat as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. It has been noted that the UK's first-past-the-post system causes electoral difficulties for smaller parties such as the BNP whose support is not geographically concentrated in a few constituencies. Like other minority parties in the UK, the majority of the BNP's electoral success has come in local government elections.
Prior to the 2004 elections to the European Parliament, the BNP had stated that it believed it could win "between one and three seats" in the 2004 European Parliamentary elections. In fact, although their share of the vote increased to 4.9% (placing them as the sixth biggest party overall), they failed to win a single seat.
While Griffin was still a leading figure in the National Front, he was a close associate of Roberto Fiore, an Italian who, having fled to London, was convicted in absentia of belonging to the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari, a terrorist group that was alleged to have carried out the Bologna massacre, which killed 85 people and injured 200 others in a railway station. However, no connection to the bombing was ever proven, and the case is still open.
The terrorist group Combat 18 (C18), was formed in 1992 (although not originally under this name), to act as stewards for BNP rallies, which were often attacked by groups such as Anti-Fascist Action.
The BNP has been accused of having links with Loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland
Historically the BNP has been associated in the public mind with violent protest and clashes with anti-BNP organisations.
Critics of the BNP assert that a significant minority of elected BNP politicians have criminal records and that the party is more tolerant of the criminal actions of some of its members than other parties would be.
The BNP and the French Front National have co-operated on numerous occasions. Jean-Marie Le Pen visited the UK in 2004 to assist launching the BNP's European Parliament campaign and Nick Griffin repaid the favour by sending a delegation of BNP officials to the FN's annual 'First of May Joan of Arc parade' in Paris in 2006. The BNP has links with Germany's National Democratic Party (NPD). Griffin addressed a NPD rally in August 2002, headed by Udo Voigt, who Gerhard Schroeder accused of trying to remove immigrants from eastern Germany. NPD activists have attended BNP events in Britain. In the run-up to the 2004 European Parliament election campaign, Nick Griffin visited Sweden to give the National Democrat Party his endorsement. Members of the Swedish National Democrats were present at the BNP's Red White and Blue rally, which took place over the weekend of 20-21 August 2005.
In June 2004, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) won 12 seats in the European Parliament. Ashley Mote was elected in June 2004. He was expelled from the party in July 2004 for failing to declare housing benefit fraud allegations to the party.
In 2005 he joined with Hans Peter Martin and Paul van Buitenen (Europa Transparant) under the name Platform for Transparency (PfT) to promote Accountability in the European Union. In 2006 he gave evidence to the House of Lords enquiry into the EU's financial management of public funds.
In January 2007, Ashley Mote became a founding member of the new far right, nationalist European Parliament group Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty.
Imprisonment for benefit fraud
UKIP removed their whip from Ashley Mote on 15 July 2004 after learning that he faced trial over allegations of housing benefit fraud. Mote failed to advise his party managers of the impending court case, and it only came to their attention when an article appeared in the The Daily Telegraph a few days after the European Union's election. The newspaper reported that he was facing nine charges of false accounting and one of making a false representation. After 7 months' consideration, the Legal Committee adopted the report by Klaus-Heiner Lehne (EPP-ED, DE) proposing that Parliament should waive the immunity, and made a ruling not to give Mote immunity from the criminal proceedings against him.
On 4 September 2007 he was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, avoiding losing his seat because his sentence was less than the statutory 12 month period.
posted by ANTONIO MASIP @ 1:01 AM
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