For a long time, a far-right European Union seemed inconceivable. Today, however, things look rather different.
For a long time, a far-right European Union seemed inconceivable – the idea of it seemed almost like a contradiction. After all, the far right was nationalist, and the EU stood for the opposite of nationalism and was created to overcome it. Far-right parties could disrupt the EU, but they could not constructively shape it, because they did not believe in European integration in the first place. Today, however, things look rather different.
There are now a number of radical-right governments in EU member states – not just in Central and Eastern European countries like Poland, which, against the background of the war in Ukraine, is widely seen as more influential in the EU than ever before, but also in founding member states like Italy, where Giorgia Meloni became prime minister last October. Even in Germany, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is now level with the Social Democrats in the polls.