Category Archives: The far right

Who is Jordan Bardella, likely successor to Marine Le Pen in French presidential race?

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Le Pen’s 29-year-old protege is the new anti-immigration face of French far right but observers point to his youth and lack of experience

The court ruling barring Marine Le Pen from running for president has recast a spotlight on her right-hand man, Jordan Bardella, as debate swirls over who may end up representing the far right in France’s 2027 presidential race.

While Le Pen’s lawyer has said she will appeal Monday’s court ruling, the process could drag on for months or years, leaving the ban firmly in place as the country heads towards presidential elections. Polls had long suggested that Le Pen, who helms the far-right the National Rally (RN) party, was among the leading contenders to succeed the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, after his second and final term ends in 2027.

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‘This will backfire’: Le Pen allies hit out at Paris court’s 2027 election ban verdict

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Elon Musk attacks decision along with other figures from the right including Viktor Orbán and Geert Wilders

Nationalist and populist figures around the world, from Elon Musk to Viktor Orbán, have united in condemnation of a Paris court verdict barring Marine Le Pen from running in the country’s 2027 presidential elections.

In a bombshell ruling many believe could boost support for the party, the figurehead of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) was sentenced on Monday to four years’ imprisonment – half suspended – and banned from running for public office for five years, for embezzlement of European parliament funds.

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Marine Le Pen’s future to be decided as embezzlement verdict arrives

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Far-right leader could be barred from standing for presidency if she is convicted over alleged fake jobs scam

The future of the far-right leader Marine Le Pen – and France’s political landscape – will be decided on Monday when a court hands down its verdict on charges she and party officials embezzled money from the European parliament.

If convicted, the three-time presidential candidate of the National Rally (RN) could be barred from standing to succeed Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 presidential election.

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Is coup trial ruling the beginning of the end for Bolsonaro and his supporters?

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While many in Brazil delight at the ex president’s predicted downfall, others fear who may follow in his far-right footsteps

There were cries of joy in progressive​ parts of Rio on Wednesday as Brazil’s supreme court ruled that the former president Jair Bolsonaro should stand trial for an alleged coup plot.

“No amnesty! No amnesty!” one elated lefty roared from his balcony into the sunny autumn afternoon.

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Mutiny brews in French bookshops over Hachette owner’s media grip

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Booksellers take stand against influence of conservative billionaire by limiting orders of his company’s books and placing them on lower shelves

A conservative Catholic billionaire and media owner is facing an independent bookshop rebellion in France over his influence in the publishing world.

Dozens of independent booksellers are trying to counter the growing influence of Vincent Bolloré, whose vast cultural empire includes television, radio, the Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche, and also, since 2023, the biggest book publishing and distribution conglomerate in France, Hachette Livre.

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Thousands protest in Israel over ‘attack on democracy’ by Netanyahu

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Protesters accuse PM of continuing Gaza war for political reasons and ignoring plight of hostages still held by Hamas

Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to call for a new ceasefire in Gaza and to protest against what they say is an attack on the country’s democracy by the rightwing governing coalition of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Key highways have been blocked and police have made at least 12 arrests amid heated scenes in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. More protests were expected in the coming days as the campaign “gathers momentum and energy”, campaigners said.

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Romania bans second far-right hopeful from presidential election rerun

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Diana Șoșoacă’s exclusion follows expulsion of front-runner Călin Georgescu from race amid rising tension around poll

Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Șoșoacă, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll.

Earlier in March, the electoral bureau barred Călin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40% before the rerun election.

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Greek PM seeks ‘reset’ with former far-right activist as migration minister

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Shaken by rail protests, Kyriakos Mitsotakis brings in new transport minister while tacking right on migration

The Greek prime minister has appointed a former far-right student activist to the helm of the migration ministry as part of a broad reshuffle aimed at “resetting” his government amid public outrage over its handling of a deadly 2023 train crash.

In an attempt to stem declining approval ratings, Kyriakos Mitsotakis placed the self-described nationalist, Makis Voridis, in the sensitive post while selecting a number of younger officials to key portfolios including the transport ministry.

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Merz presses Greens to name their terms for German defence spending rise

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‘What more do you want from us?’ asks chancellor-in-waiting as he seeks urgent support for fiscal rule changes

Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting has tried to win over the Greens to his ambitious but controversial plans to raise the country’s defence spending, promising to expand the scope of the plans and demanding of them: “What more do you actually want from us?”

The outgoing parliament met on Thursday to debate the creation of a €500bn (£420bn) fund for infrastructure investment and radical changes in Germany’s borrowing limits in order to boost defence spending.

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Romania’s pro-Russia presidential candidate to fight election ban

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Cǎlin Georgescu to contest decision to bar him from election rerun in May after claims of Russian meddling

Romania’s far-right presidential frontrunner, Cǎlin Georgescu, has said he will appeal against a decision to bar him from standing in a rerun of the presidential election, calling it “a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.

Georgescu, a Moscow-friendly populist, surged from almost nowhere to win the first round of the country’s presidential election last year, but the result was annulled by Romania’s top court because of evidence of suspected Russian interference.

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Five jailed for far-right plot to overthrow German government

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Extremists linked to Reichsbürger movement also planned to kidnap health minister and create conditions for civil war

A German court has jailed five members of an extremist group linked to the Reichsbürger (Reich Citizens) movement for plotting a coup and to kidnap the health minister.

The defendants, four men, aged 46 to 58, and a 77-year-old woman, who belonged to the self-styled “United Patriots” group, were sentenced to between five years and nine months and eight years’ jail by the Koblenz higher regional court on Thursday.

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AfD readmits two politicians excluded over Nazi-related remarks

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After Sunday’s election the far-right party has decided to allow Maximilian Krah and Matthias Helferich to return to the parliamentary group

Two politicians for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) who were sidelined over remarks they made relating to the Nazis have been welcomed back into its parliamentary group after the party’s historic performance in the German general election.

Maximilian Krah resigned from the AfD’s federal executive board before the European elections last June after telling an Italian newspaper that not all members of Adolf Hitler’s SS had been “automatically criminals”.

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Germany election: Merz says it’s ‘five to midnight’ for Europe

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Leader of victorious conservative alliance says continent must build defence capability as US moves towards ‘America alone’ motto

The man expected to be Germany’s next chancellor has said Europe must act swiftly to increase its defence capability in the face of a US administration whose motto is moving towards “America alone”, adding: “This is really five minutes to midnight for Europe.”

In a wide-ranging press conference after his conservative alliance’s victory in Sunday’s federal election, Friedrich Merz made it clear his focus was on the turbulent geopolitical landscape, saying that although he would seek good ties with the US he was also ready for “the worst-case scenario”.

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Neo-Nazi group plots rebuild as Trump’s FBI chief takes helm, audio reveals

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Exclusive: Terrorist group the Base appears defiant as new administration aims to deprioritize threat from far right

An international neo-Nazi terrorist group with origins in the US appears to be quickly rebuilding its global and stateside ranks, according to information obtained by the Guardian from its digital accounts.

Founded in 2018, the Base has been the intense focus of a years-long FBI counter-terrorism investigation that has resulted in more than a dozen of its members arrested. It has plotted an assassination, mass shootings and other actions in Europe, which made it a proscribed terrorist organization in several countries.

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Conservatives win German election but far-right AfD doubles support

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Preliminary results show CDU/CSU will be largest party but success of Alternative für Deutschland likely to complicate formation of a government

The conservative opposition has won the most votes in Germany’s general election, preliminary results indicated, but a dramatic surge by the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is likely to complicate the formation of a government to help spearhead a European response to growing global threats.

The CDU/CSU candidate, Friedrich Merz, was preparing on Sunday night to try to form a ruling coalition after clinching roughly 29% of the vote from a high turnout.

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Enrique Tarrio follows and insults officers who defended US Capitol on January 6

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Ex-leader of far-right Proud Boys trails group through lobby of Washington hotel, engaging officer Michael Fanone

Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys group who was convicted and then pardoned for his role in the January 6 insurrection, confronted a group of police officers who defended the Capitol during the attack, accusing one of them of being a “coward”.

A video shared by Tarrio on social media on Saturday showed him following the officers, Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell, through the lobby of a Washington hotel that was hosting the Principles First summit, a conference where one of the officers received a “profile in courage” award.

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Far-right links and Putin praise: fears over £600m UK history theme park plan

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French family behind project visited Kremlin in 2014 to discuss building ‘Tsarland’ in annexed Crimea

With its spectacular shows featuring Viking longboats, Roman charioteers and sword-wielding knights who perform death-defying stunts, Puy du Fou in France is consistently ranked among the world’s best theme parks. Each performance of its centrepiece Cinéscénie show, which depicts 700 years of French history, features more than 1,000 actors, hundreds of horses and about 800 fireworks.

Now the company has set its sights on bringing its brand of immersive history to the UK via a £600m investment to build its mock medieval castles, hotels and restaurants on farmland just off the M40 in Oxfordshire. It has asked the upmarket property firm Savills to help with its planning applications and is expected to look for British co-investors for a project that it says will create thousands of jobs.

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Placebo frontman Brian Molko charged with calling Meloni ‘fascist’ and ‘racist’

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The singer is being charged with defamation of the far-right Italian prime minister leader while performing at a festival in Turin in 2023

Placebo frontman Brian Molko is being charged with defamation after appearing to call the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, a “piece of shit, fascist, racist” in Italian while performing at a festival in Turin in 2023.

In August 2023, Meloni sued Molko over the comments. Prosecutors subsequently opened an investigation into the claims and have charged Molko with “contempt of the institutions”.

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Trump and Vance are courting Europe’s far right to spread their political gospel

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US vice-president’s speech and meeting with Germany’s AfD chief signal administration’s wider plans for continent

The Trump administration is making a big bet on Europe’s hard right.

Speaking at a conference of Europe’s leaders in Munich on Friday, the US vice-president JD Vance stunned the room by delivering what amounted to a campaign speech against Germany’s sitting government just one week before an election in which the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim AfD is set to take second place.

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Talks to form far-right-led coalition government in Austria collapse

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Disagreements over key posts and issues like migration mean snap election is likely, with far-right Freedom party ahead in polls

Austria’s Freedom party (FPÖ) has ended coalition talks with the conservatives on forming the country’s first far-right-led government after disagreements over key posts and issues such as migration.

The FPÖ – which topped national polls for the first time in September – has been negotiating with the long-ruling conservative People’s party (ÖVP) since early January.

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