The specter of neo-fascism haunts Europe, LJUBLJANA – The surprise at this month’s European Parliament elections was that the outcome everyone expected actually came true.
To paraphrase a classic scene from the Marx Brothers: Europe may talk and act as if it is moving to the radical right, but don’t let that fool you; Europe is really moving to the radical right.
Why should we insist on this interpretation? Because most of the mainstream media has tried to downplay it. The message we keep hearing is: “Sure, Marine Le Pen, Giorgia Meloni and Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) occasionally flirt with fascist motives, but there is no need to panic, because they still respect democratic rules and respecting institutions once they are in power.” Yet this domestication of the radical right should worry us all, because it signals the willingness of traditional conservative parties to join the new movement. The axiom of post-World War II European democracy, ‘No cooperation with fascists’, has been quietly abandoned.
