It is misleading to tar all European ‘new right’ parties with the same brush

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The writer is a contributing editor of the FT

There are at least three different political positions running among European parties that are properly labeled “hard” or “far”. As these go – some conservatives who appeal to more working-class and lower-class people, others with clear authoritarian leanings – they will be little alike. Currently, they are grouped, disappointingly, under these rubrics in the media and political discourse. But because of the strong differences between them, they are better labeled as the “new right”.

Equally, they are opposed to the EU still willing to increase its power and therefore reduce theirs. They have not pledged to leave the organization but insist that their governments will be completely sovereign.

They are against mass immigration: in particular, this is still the most attractive policy for the general public. Many European countries have adopted stricter laws, some of which – like Sweden and Finland – are organized and run by new parties that have the right to associate or give parliamentary support to the right it is in the middle.

However these standard conditions vary in practice. Since 2022, Giorgia Meloni, a new politician serving as the prime minister of Italy, has sometimes worked closely with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Meloni also supports Ukraine’s self-defense against Russia and places himself firmly in the pro-Nato camp – like the Sweden Democrats.

Marine Le Pen, the main figure in France’s Rassemblement National, had Russian leanings, and her party accepted a loan from a bank controlled by Russia (which has now been repaid). However, in a speech to the French parliament in March, he said President Vladimir Putin “has created a war at the door of the EU and a political crisis that is without a doubt the most dramatic of the last 20 years.” . The RN is now the most popular party in France, and Le Pen, who is likely to be its candidate in the 2027 presidential election (even if she faces a case that could disqualify her from running), will now show victory.

Russia is a key player in the rise of the new right. Many of these parties, from Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, are still closer to Russia than the US-dominated west. They tend to stay in Europe in the middle of communism – but clearly the most important among them is Alternative for Germany, Germany’s main party of the new right. The same Russophile sympathies are shown by the small Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, whose leader unites the rest of the economy with a commitment to reduce the number of immigrants, now and in the future. He argues that the German working class is losing competition for housing, medical care and social services.

From this changing area, the main currents include the new right parties in Italy, France and Sweden, which claim to be fully democratic and part of the western camp; and a larger group if so far unsuccessful, many in central Europe, who are at least vehemently anti-EU, violently anti-immigrant and deeply attached to Christian values, family and tradition.

Among these are a number of parties that go both ways, and include Hungary’s Fidesz, Spain’s Vox, Portugal’s Chega and most notably the AfD. The Thuringian AfD leader, Björn Höcke, often plays on Nazi themes, shouting at meetings: “Everything for Germany!”, a Nazi storm trooper slogan banned in Germany ( you are charged twice for this). The co-leaders, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, are considered moderate in comparison and want to unite the party. Chrupalla has been asking many members to unite, and “stop thinking in camps” – even though he was prominent in the pro-Russian camp.

“Far” or “hard” right can be reasonably applied to Höcke and the many thousands who follow him. Policies made by other parties will also qualify. It is not correct when applied to those who claim to be true democrats and live according to them: writing prevents understanding of the sources and reasons of their anti-establishment positions. Of course it is possible that they will engage in a long game of protest as they prepare for authority when they are in power. The influence and political status of Donald Trump, who has taken all these parties as allies, will be crucial to this – as will their ability to govern. But so far, as an anti-totalitarian.