In the aftermath of the eurozone crisis, it is perhaps unsurprising that waves of smaller, more radical political parties are gaining greater influence throughout Europe. In May’s European election, many parties that have long been considered extreme in comparison to the traditional political powerhouses managed to secure a number of seats in the European Parliament. While some in the political mainstream have met this news with dismay, others have heralded it as a sign that the political status quo is being shaken for the first time in generations.

However, a far more worrying sign is the number of political parties gaining influence throughout Europe that hold some very extreme views. While many would not argue with a general shift away from the big state, centralised system that has emerged across Europe over the last 50 years, there is a danger that political sentiment is shifting too far the other way across the political spectrum.

With many of the EU’s members representing vastly bloated states run by the same establishment politicians that took their countries to the brink of economic catastrophe, a shaking up of the political spectrum is to be welcomed. Certainly there have been justified calls for the bureaucratic hoops that businesses must jump through across the EU to be scaled back and the endless red tape and regulations to be slashed. However, this desire has been hijacked by a number of political parties that represent worldviews that are dangerously fascistic.

Rise of the right
While the influence of the UK’s British National Party (BNP) has been quashed as a result of infighting and mismanagement, the much milder nationalist party UK Independence Party (UKIP) has seen a shocking surge in popularity over the last 12 months. Its supposedly down-to-earth leader and MEP Nigel Farage has been bolstered by a number of defections from the Conservative Party, including two sitting MPs in the form of Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless, as well as the influential businessmen, donor and obsessive Eurosceptic Stuart Wheeler.

One of the main reasons for the emergence of these right-wing parties is the concern over immigration that has hit the EU

France’s Front National, the far-right party founded by Jean-Marie le Pen that has since been ever so slightly softened by his daughter Marine, has been threatening to make serious headway in the country’s elections for many years now. In 2011, Marine le Pen was announced as the new leader of Front National, and set about trying to make the party more palatable to moderate voters. Her efforts seemed to work, alongside the discontentment at France’s historically centralised, state-dominated politics, and the party saw big gains in 2014s European Parliament election, securing 24 of the country’s 74 seats. With socialist president Francois Hollande becoming increasingly unpopular, le Pen’s party may be able to make greater gains in the lead up to 2017s national elections.

Despite Germany dominating the EU’s economy, and therefore much of the decision-making that goes on across the continent, there has been plenty of domestic dissent from groups believing that the EU and euro has failed. One of the most prominent is the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party that was founded in 2013. While it regards itself as neither to the left or right of the political spectrum, the party is vehemently opposed to the continuation of the euro, describing as a failed currency that is threatening the future prosperity of European countries.

The party is not, however, against the EU, and is in favour of maintaining European integration. It is perhaps the most moderate of all the new wave of political parties, maintaining a conservative, economically liberal stance, while calling for reforms of the EU. Its success in recent elections includes the 4.7 percent of the vote in 2013s federal elections that was its first. It subsequently won seven of the country’s European Parliament seats in May 2014s elections.

Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn, an extremist group that capitalised on the chaos and disgruntlement at the height of the eurozone crisis to get a great deal of attention. Described by some as a neo-Nazi and fascist group, the party is led by Nikolaos Michaloliakos, a long-term proponent of Greek nationalism. Steeped in controversy, Golden Dawn has been accused of racism and xenophobia, and Michaloliakos has even publicly identified himself as a racist.

The party’s electoral success came in the 2012 national elections, where it campaigned against austerity that it said was imposed by Germany, as well as high unemployment and anti-immigration. Gaining seven percent of the vote, it eventually secured 18 seats in the Greek parliament. However, reflecting the somewhat sinister nature of its leadership, Golden Dawn’s chief Michaloliakos and other MPs were arrested and charged with the apparent murder of an anti-fascist rapper in September 2013.

History repeating itself?
There is a deeply worrying precedent that history throws up as a warning. After Germany’s defeat in the First World War, the collapse of the country’s economy and dire living conditions that it caused led to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party seeing a dramatic upsurge in support. While it’s somewhat sensationalist to suggest that some of the new wave of far-right parties across Europe are close to replicating that surge of Nazi support, many of them do share similarly reprehensible worldviews.

Front National’s founder and Honorary Chairman Jean-Marie le Pen has repeatedly dismissed Nazi gas chambers as a “point of detail”. His daughter has sought to distance herself from the comments, however, with aligning herself with a number of people from France’s Jewish community during the 2012 presidential elections.

One of the main reasons for the emergence of these right-wing parties is the concern over immigration that has hit the EU. At a time of economic crisis, nationals often look towards outsiders as the reason for their inability to get a job and the burden being placed on public services. They also worry about the dilution of traditional local values that an influx of outsiders brings. With the heightened tension in the Middle East threatening to spill over into Europe, and Turkey’s membership still up for discussion, many within the EU are worried about any further opening of the borders.

It will be difficult to address these concerns with freedom of movement so enshrined in the EU’s characteristics. Instead, leaders should do more to promote the benefits that immigration from both inside and outside the EU can offer for the economy.
Indeed, the crucial step towards stemming this tide of far-right sentiment is sorting out the EU economy. While things have certainly improved over the last 12 months, no one is pretending that the eurozone is out of the woods with regards to the debt crisis. These problems will be further exacerbated if the situation between nearby Ukraine and Russia continues to threaten Europe’s energy supplies.