'Intolerance as an ideology'. 2014 protest against fascism and French far right leader Marine Le Pen in Brussels. Aurore Belot/Demotix. All rights reserved.If one believes the international media, then the “refugee crisis” is pushing Europe further and further into the hands of the far right. As refugee centres burn and tens of thousands of people demonstrate against an alleged “Muslim invasion”, far right parties across Europe are at record highs in opinion polls and are winning in local and national elections.
Earlier this month the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) won 29.4% of the vote in the Swiss national elections, the largest victory of any far right party in Western Europe since 1945. In the Netherlands and Sweden, long seen as immune to far right parties, the Party for Freedom (PVV) and Sweden Democrats (SD) are soaring in the polls. From Denmark to Germany (planned) refugee centres are being targeted by arsonists and protesters.
Against this angry mob, given voice by charismatic leaders like Marine Le Pen and Heinz-Christian Strache, stands an apathetic and flustered political elite. While German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to defend a welcoming approach to the refugees, she was met with silence or opposition from her centre-left and centre-right colleagues across the continent.
