Over 16% of voters have voted for the far right racist and anti islamic "Freedom Party" and "Alliance for Austria's Future" in the Austrian elections and they are potential partners in a coalition government. These parties campaigned on an anti Lisbon ticket, as did the Social Democrats - who won the majority of the votes. The emergence of a xenophobic far right is not surprising. The anti-islamic right is a longstanding feature of French and Dutch politics and the BNP in Britain is making steady gains in terms of votes. In Ireland we have Libertas, which is close to the Tory eurosceptics and has anti-islamic form.

The racist far right historically has no respect for democracy and is unscrupulous in stirring up fears and racial hatred. Ultimately it backs business interests and is provided to ride rough shod over opposition. I feel that these groups are a serious threat, given the present scene of economic disintegration and rising unemployment and the feeble offering from the mainstream parties.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2191513,00.html

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/07/europe/austria.php

There has always been a sizeable right wing in Europe.

What about the Far Left? Imo the Links Partei of Germany are just as much a malign force in European politics as the far right. Indeed in Germany they are more of a threat given the Links Partei are in a much more commanding poll position than the NDP for example.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

What about the Far Left? Imo the Links Partei of Germany are just as much a malign force in European politics as the far right. Indeed in Germany they are more of a threat given the Links Partei are in a much more commanding poll position than the NDP for example.

Am I going to have to get out the chart again, AT? I think I am...

Quote :

Left = Good
Right = Bad

Well we'd have to define what we are referring to here as "right". After my law exams I'll dig out the graphs from my Politics undergraduate courses which Richard Sinnott (expert on Irish political statistics) used to put up to define left and right. He used to think in about 10 different dimensions .

I presume here cactus, and that report, are referring to far right individuals in terms of social attitudes rather than necessarily economics. The two need not be tied.

I too mine from The Study of comparative politics for nice but dim 2008 , Black & Whyte et al.

johnfás wrote:

Well we'd have to define what we are referring to here as "right". After my law exams I'll dig out the graphs from my Politics undergraduate courses which Richard Sinnott (expert on Irish political statistics) used to put up to define left and right. He used to think in about 10 different dimensions .

I presume here cactus, and that report, are referring to far right individuals in terms of social attitudes rather than necessarily economics. The two need not be tied.

That's an interesting concept johnfas. Can you think of any examples? In general, I would have understood the political concepts of right and left as being aligned to an economic basis and to the idea of class politics.

Well in Irish political terms you find people measuring on the basis of Economics, Abortion, opinion on the Welfare State, opinions on Northern Ireland and then you have to put it all together and you end up with a 3-D cube with lots of lines and it gives you a 'truer' reflection. I'll dig out the powerpoints on it in a couple of weeks.

All the rest of the political spectrum should be concerned about the far right - it is no respector of the conservative right.

I do take some comfort from the better than expected performance of the Social Democrats in Austria.

Do you have any information on the Links Partei Ard Taoiseach ?

cactus flower wrote:

In Ireland we have Libertas, which is close to the Tory eurosceptics and has anti-islamic form.

Firstly I'll say I'm in not in any way a fan of Libertas. I think there is something sinister about Mr Ganley (No offence to Mr Ganley, I'm sure he's a nice guy and all). I voted No to Lisbon but I would never consider Libertas as having had an effect on my decision.

But with that out of the way, I'd like to ask where you base the assertion that Libertas has anti-Islamic form?

AfricanDave wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

In Ireland we have Libertas, which is close to the Tory eurosceptics and has anti-islamic form.

Firstly I'll say I'm in not in any way a fan of Libertas. I think there is something sinister about Mr Ganley (No offence to Mr Ganley, I'm sure he's a nice guy and all). I voted No to Lisbon but I would never consider Libertas as having had an effect on my decision.

But with that out of the way, I'd like to ask where you base the assertion that Libertas has anti-Islamic form?

Well, there's this from the Libertas website: http://www.libertas.org/content/view/82/90/

It seems to have been edited since it was first put up on their website - I think I have a copy of the original somewhere, I'll try to dig it out.

That article is quite long and I don't have time to read it in full now, but after having a quick look it seems to be anti-radical Islam as opposed to plain old anti-Islam.
In saying that I've only read a little bit of it so until I've read the whole lot (won't be until tomorrow sometime) I won't say any more.

AfricanDave wrote:

That article is quite long and I don't have time to read it in full now, but after having a quick look it seems to be anti-radical Islam as opposed to plain old anti-Islam.
In saying that I've only read a little bit of it so until I've read the whole lot (won't be until tomorrow sometime) I won't say any more.

I don't envy you the full reading. I'll try and find the version I have saved, to see if my impression that this has been edited is correct.

cookiemonster wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

What about the Far Left? Imo the Links Partei of Germany are just as much a malign force in European politics as the far right. Indeed in Germany they are more of a threat given the Links Partei are in a much more commanding poll position than the NDP for example.

Am I going to have to get out the chart again, AT? I think I am...

Quote :

Left = Good
Right = Bad

Ah yes, I had forgotten about that basic truism. I've seen the error of my ways. Go raibh míle, cookie!

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0225/1224241772988.html

There have been a good number of posts on the Libertas threads about the burgeoning far right in Europe.

Anti-Roma racism in Italy has been in the news: this report from Hungary is very disturbing.

The Roma were persecuted during WW2 with many dying in concentration camps, their property seized and their culture in parts of Europe decimated.

Roma people have a right to protection from this. History has shown that if we let this kind organised racist thuggery go on, the consequences are horrendous.Is Italy to be allowed to remain in the EU when its government says all Roma are criminals?

A short history of genocide against Europe's Roma people:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?ModuleId=10005219

Quote :

HUNGARY’S JUSTICE minister has admitted that his country’s police force is failing to find those responsible for a growing number of fatal attacks on members of the Roma, or Gypsy, community.

Tibor Draskovics pledged to deploy more police to rural areas after the latest killing, in which a Roma man and his five-year-old son were apparently shot dead as they escaped their burning home.

Roma activists said the house had been set alight by a petrol bomb, and noted that it bore striking similarities to an attack in rural Hungary late last year in which two Roma were killed.

There has been an increase in serious assaults against and murders of Roma in Hungary in recent months, but most of the cases remain unsolved.

“We have not been able to track down the perpetrators of these crimes even though we have a 95 per cent detection rate in homicide cases overall,” Mr Draskovics told parliament.

“The real change will have to happen inside us . . . The fight against hatred is not a police job.”

Growing economic problems and rising unemployment in Hungary have stoked long-held racial prejudices, and far-right organisations have become more prominent through claims that white Hungarians are suffering an onslaught of “Gypsy crime”.

The most high-profile nationalist group, the Magyar Garda or Hungarian Guard, wear uniforms and insignia reminiscent of those used by Hungary’s wartime fascist rulers, and often march through Roma areas. Critics call them racist thugs, while they claim to be upholding Hungarian values and traditions.

Hungary’s ombudsman in charge of minority affairs, Erno Kallai, urged parliament to take resolute steps to “salvage peace in society”, noting that none of the perpetrators of more than a dozen armed attacks against Roma in the past year had been caught. “There isn’t just an economic crisis, but a social one too,” he said.

His words echoed those of Florian Farkas, head of Roma rights group Lungo Drom, who warned that, “unless a solution is found for the integration of the Roma, there will be a civil-war situation”.

A Council of Europe committee yesterday also criticised rising racism in Hungary, where a population of 10 million includes at least 500,000 Roma.

None of these Roma children, born in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, survived.

http://aktualne.centrum.cz/czechnews/foto.phtml?gid=9512&id=235477

I'm reminded of all the talk of emerging terrorist groups. Not to dismiss those that have died, but are we at 30s Italy Blackshirt phase yet? Terrorism was blown completely out of proportion in its day. Not so long ago we had numerous reports from various sources of a flourishing anti-semitism in Europe, which surely merits a mention in this thread. But that would be a left-wing thing.

I am reminded of a post on the excellent A Fistful of Euros site regarding what is termed OPNPs (Obnoxious Populist Nationalist Parties).

Quote :

What makes the Radicals different from, say, “Attack” in Bulgaria or Vadim Tudor’s Greater Romania Party is Serbia’s unhappy recent history. While “Attack” and such may have a lot of members who fantasize wistfully about gathering members of unpopular and despised minorities together, killing them, and dumping their bodies in a nearby large body of water, the Radical Party includes a number of people who have actually done so.

It's a Balkan specific point being made but I don't think there's any suggestion that there's some flaw in the Eastern European character that makes them more succeptible to this lunacy. It is certainly worth guarding against.

905 wrote:

I'm reminded of all the talk of emerging terrorist groups. Not to dismiss those that have died, but are we at 30s Italy Blackshirt phase yet? Terrorism was blown completely out of proportion in its day. Not so long ago we had numerous reports from various sources of a flourishing anti-semitism in Europe, which surely merits a mention in this thread. But that would be a left-wing thing.

Hello 905. No, the point is that we are not, but that conditions are sufficiently favourable to the right for us to take it seriously. Of course these far right groups are antisemitic. There are plenty of posts on/against antisemitism here.