Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day celebrations early to attend an ITV interview will likely be remembered as the worst blunder of this year’s UK general election campaign. But the British media’s coverage of the Normandy ceremony missed the main story: that while heads of state gathered to celebrate the end of fascism in Europe, the heirs of Mussolini and Pétin were among them, honoured as respectable statespeople.
On her social media, Marine Le Pen paid tribute to those who “made the ultimate sacrifice to restore our freedom”. Four days later, her far-right National Rally topped the polls in France’s elections to the European Parliament, prompting president Emmanuel Macron to call a snap election, which National Rally looks set to win.
Le Pen’s success is emblematic of a new phase in the development of the European far right, which has been audacious in divorcing itself from the memory of fascism. Having created the conditions for the new far right’s rise, and adopted its political agendas, a section of Europe's political elites are now moving to form alliances with it.
