Category Archives: The far right

Voting under way in Sweden with far right eyeing first role in government

Posted on by

Party with neo-Nazi roots is in line for key ministerial positions if rightwing bloc wins the election

Voting is under way in Sweden in a high-stakes election that could lead to the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) entering government for the first time.

It comes after an unusually heated and polarised campaign punctuated by personal attacks between leaders, accusations of misinformation and Maga-inspired ads. Polls suggest an extremely tight race, with one showing just 0.3 percentage points between the left and right blocs.

Continue reading...

Sweden’s extremely close election could see far right enter government

Posted on by

Latest poll shows 0.3-point gap between left and right blocs, with country’s reputation as global champion of human rights said to be at stake

Sweden goes to the polls on Sunday in an extremely close election that could see the far right enter government for the first time if the country’s rightwing parties can form a majority.

Opinion polls show the centre-left opposition alliance ahead, with Magdalena ⁠Andersson of the Social Democrats the favourite to become prime minister again after four years in opposition, but her bloc’s lead has narrowed considerably in the final days of the campaign.

Continue reading...

Firewall compromised: has Friedrich Merz blown ‘democracy’s last shot’?

Posted on by

Many fear chancellor is wrong man for the job at a time when Germany’s defences against far right are crumbling

A cataclysm. A 9.0 earthquake. A five-alarm fire. A bitter rejection of Germany’s joyous reunification three decades ago, and a threat to the democratic postwar order.

Sizing up the repercussions of last weekend’s win for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party in the former communist state of Saxony-Anhalt, German commentators expressed a sense of doom, panic and helplessness in the political establishment.

Continue reading...

RNLI reports ‘significant’ donations boost after being targeted by far right over small boats

Posted on by

Charity condemns ‘disgraceful’ intimidation and insists it will continue core purpose of saving lives at sea

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has had a “significant” boost in donations since becoming a target of far-right agitators protesting over small boat crossings.

The charity’s staff and volunteers have been subjected to “online and physical abuse” after involvement in a rescue on Sunday in which a dingy carrying asylum seekers was brought into Portsmouth.

Continue reading...

Merz accuses AfD of ‘ethnic cleansing’ policy and cancels call with Trump

Posted on by

German chancellor attacks Alternative für Deutschland after far-right party’s win in Saxony-Anhalt election

Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has accused the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) of seeking “ethnic cleansing” with its “remigration” drive, after the nativist party’s seismic weekend victory in a state election.

In his first public confrontation with the AfD since Sunday’s shock outcome in Saxony-Anhalt, Merz said at a raucous parliamentary debate that the far-right party would take an axe to one of the pillars of the German economy with a racist campaign of mass deportations.

Continue reading...

German chancellor vows to stay in office despite AfD triumph in state election

Posted on by

Friedrich Merz said his conservative CDU was shaken ‘to its very foundations’ after far-right victory in Saxony-Anhalt

A “shocked” and chastened Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay in office despite the far right’s triumph in a state election that has brought anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin politicians within striking distance of power.

The German chancellor, appearing ashen-faced in front of reporters in Berlin, said on Monday that the landslide victory by the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Saxony-Anhalt had shaken his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) “to its very foundations”.

Continue reading...

Europe’s centre fears nationalist wave after AfD victory but only has itself to blame

Posted on by

Saxony-Anhalt win part of wider trend driven by mainstream policy failures and gradual normalisation of far right ideas

The numbers speak for themselves: Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a party that dabbles in Nazi imagery, distinguishes between “biological” and “passport” Germans, and is too extreme even for France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen, nearly doubled its score in Sunday’s state election in Saxony-Anhalt to 43.8% of the vote.

Meanwhile, the centre-right CDU of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, collapsed to 17.2%, less than half its total in the same race five years ago, and the centre-left SPD – Germany’s other main party of government for the past 60-odd years – scraped 9.3%. The least that can be said is that the centre did not hold.

Continue reading...

Why is the far-right AfD’s state victory significant and what might happen next in German politics?

Posted on by

Aftershocks of party’s win in Saxony-Anhalt will ripple across Germany, with two more state elections this month

Germany is reeling from the biggest far-right victory in a state election since the Nazi period after voters in Saxony-Anhalt in the former communist east gave the anti-immigration, pro-Kremlin Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party a thumping first-place finish of 44%, just short of an absolute majority.

Continue reading...

Far-right AfD win in Germany is ‘grave moment’ for Europe, politicians warn

Posted on by

Mainstream politicians express alarm while lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt welcomes congratulations from Elon Musk

Mainstream politicians around Europe have expressed alarm after the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) swept to a historic state election victory in Germany, while nationalist figures cheered the result as a mandate for change.

While falling just short of an absolute majority, the AfD surged into first place in the Saxony-Anhalt state election on Sunday, exit polls ⁠showed, putting the far right within reach ​of power at ‌the state level for ‌the first time since the second world war.

Continue reading...

Far-right AfD wins key German state election but falls just short of majority

Posted on by

Alternative für Deutschland surges to victory in Saxony-Anhalt as Friedrich Merz’s CDU slumps to disastrous result

The populist, far-right, anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has surged to a resounding victory in a crucial state election in Germany, but fell just short of winning a majority in its quest to form the country’s first far-right state government since the second world war.

The party of Germany’s unpopular chancellor Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democrats (CDU), slumped to a disastrous result in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Continue reading...

Europe would not be able to sustain war of attrition with Russia, defence officials say

Posted on by

Security experts fear Putin may be winning hybrid war with the west amid rise of pro-Kremlin, far-right parties

Defence planners working with Nato fear that if war broke out with Russia, Europe could not currently sustain a prolonged war of attrition owing to a public lack of war readiness, a conference on the future of European military coordination heard this week.

The pessimism reflects concern that Russia may be winning a so-called hybrid war with Europe, weakening the options available to Nato war planners in the event of military conflict.

Continue reading...

Colombia president provokes disgust by posing with bodies of ‘terrorists’

Posted on by

Abelardo De La Espriella posts video of himself with rows of body bags as performative populism continues to sweep Americas

Colombia’s hardline president, Abelardo De La Espriella, has provoked outrage after posting a video on social media in which he strides through rows of white body bags that he says contained the corpses of 23 “neutralised” guerrillas.

De La Espriella took power last month vowing “all-out war” against illegal armed groups and he published the footage on Thursday in an apparent attempt to show he was fulfilling that pledge.

Continue reading...

Rise of far-right leader Roberto Vannacci challenges Meloni as she celebrates Italian milestone

Posted on by

Futuro Nazionale party’s speedy poll rise poses questions whether PM will return to her roots before election

Giorgia Meloni’s government has become the longest-running in Italy since the second world war – a milestone the prime minister is determined not to let pass unnoticed.

In the port area of Bari, the capital of the southern Italian region of Puglia, where Meloni hosted the G7 in 2024 and where she spends her summer holiday, preparations are well under way for a festival-style showcase of her rightwing administration.

Continue reading...

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella to address Reform UK party conference

Posted on by

Speech part of effort to strengthen National Rally party’s international ties before Marine Le Pen’s presidential bid

The French far-right leader Jordan Bardella is to give a speech at Reform UK’s party conference in Birmingham next week as he attempts to boost international ties before Marine Le Pen’s bid for the French presidency next spring.

Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) is high in the polls and she is predicted to reach the final round of the French presidential race in May.

Continue reading...

Colombia’s new president Abelardo de la Espriella announces immigration crackdown

Posted on by

Far-right leader echoes ally Donald Trump and says operations to ‘track down illegal immigrants’ should begin this week, amid earthquake aftermath

Colombia’s far-right president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has announced a crackdown on immigrants, ordering authorities to detain and deport people who are in the country irregularly or have committed crimes.

In office for just over two weeks, the millionaire former lawyer made the announcement on Sunday as the country continued to grapple with the aftermath of a 7.4-magnitude earthquake on 10 August that killed more than 300 people and destroyed more than 30,000 homes.

Continue reading...

Germany’s firewall was meant to hold the far right at bay. It may have done the reverse

Posted on by

An AfD win in ​next month’s state election in Saxony-Anhalt would shatter a decades-long political consensus and reverberate throughout the EU

• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

In just over two weeks’ time, Saxony-Anhalt – home to historic timber-framed houses, the dramatic Harz mountains and the birthplace of Martin Luther – will hold what could prove one of the most significant state elections in Germany’s postwar history.

The vote, on 6 September, could see a far-right party whose local branch is officially classified by the country’s domestic intelligence service as “confirmed rightwing extremist” appoint a state premier and govern a state alone, for the first time.

Continue reading...

Adviser to far-right Latin American leaders arrested for allegedly plotting to kill girlfriend

Posted on by

Fernando Cerimedo, 42, arrested on suspicion of ordering shooting of Bolivian lawyer Nadia Beller

A senior adviser to many of Latin America’s new wave of far-right leaders has been arrested for allegedly masterminding the attempted murder of his girlfriend.

The businessman and political consultant Fernando Cerimedo, 42, had been working as an adviser to the Bolivian president, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, and was one of the main strategists behind Javier Milei’s campaign in Argentina’s 2023 presidential election.

Continue reading...

Swedish MEP files police complaint accusing Danish colleague of racist hate speech

Posted on by

Abir Al-Sahlani targeted on social media after condemning anti-immigration chants in European parliament

A Swedish MEP has filed a police complaint accusing a fellow MEP of racist hate speech after she was targeted on social media over her condemnation of far-right, anti-immigration chants in the European parliament.

The complaint, which was filed last week with police in Sweden, relates to the aftermath last month of the decision by some rightwing MEPs to erupt in chants of “send them back” following a vote aimed at increasing deportations across the EU.

Continue reading...

Elon Musk’s family foundation took Tommy Robinson to Russia, says Musk’s father

Posted on by

Errol Musk says far-right activist is ‘a fine young man’ and held meetings with Russian business figures

Elon Musk’s family foundation took Tommy Robinson to Russia, according to the billionaire X owner’s father, who was with the British far-right activist in Moscow as he encouraged anti-migration protests in Britain.

Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – appeared last month in Moscow, from where he issued calls for supporters to take to the streets after a knife attack in Belfast. He shared video of himself in a luxury Moscow hotel with the older Musk, whose son has been a vocal supporter of Robinson.

Continue reading...

How Pauline Hanson courts UK’s far-right – and builds a global brand – with ‘pseudo events’ and publicity stunts

Posted on by

The One Nation leader is set to be interviewed by Tommy Robinson as part of a media strategy that seems designed to seek scandal – and reach millions

Pauline Hanson’s highly publicised meetings with controversial far-right figures in the UK will drive international eyeballs to her content and continue building the global brand – and that’s by design, far-right experts say.

The One Nation leader is visiting on a “fact-finding mission” with her chief-of-staff, James Ashby, ticking off a number of the country’s most divisive personalities.

Continue reading...