Category Archives: The far right

Romania votes in presidential poll with nationalist and leftist vying for runoff

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Sunday’s election could lead to a battle between far-right’s George Simion and Marcel Ciolacu of Social Democrats

Romanians are casting ballots on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election that could pit a far-right nationalist against the incumbent leftist prime minister in the runoff.

Thirteen candidates are vying for the presidency in the EU and Nato member country and the vote is expected to go to a second round on 8 December. Polls opened at 7am local time (05.00 GMT) and will close at 9pm. Romanians abroad have been able to vote since Friday.

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Call for investigation into far-right EU politicians’ flights to Trump gala

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Transparency International writes to EU requesting inquiry into potential failure to declare travel and ticket expenses

An NGO has called for an investigation into five far-right members of the European parliament, warning of a potential failure to declare expenses for a trip to attend a gala dinner in New York headlined by Donald Trump.

Transparency International’s EU office has written to the parliament’s watchdog on MEP conduct requesting an inquiry into five politicians over a potential failure to declare travel and tickets to the black-tie gala hosted by the New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) in December 2023.

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Paris prosecutor seeks jail and public office ban for Marine Le Pen

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Request in embezzlement trial threatens to undermine National Rally’s efforts to polish image before 2027 polls

A Paris prosecutor has requested a five-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office for the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, at a trial in which she and 24 others are accused of embezzling EU funds.

The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial investigations started, threatens to undermine her National Rally (RN) party’s efforts to polish its image before the 2027 presidential election, which many believe she could win.

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‘Time for patriots’: global far-right figures celebrate Trump’s win

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Jair Bolsonaro, Javier Milei and Giorgia Meloni among those in Europe and the Americas paying tribute

Key members of the global far right have celebrated Donald Trump’s US election win, with tributes to the former president rolling in from Rio de Janeiro to Budapest.

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán – who had vowed to toast a Trump win with “several bottles of champagne” – hailed what he called “a much-needed victory for the world!”

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Swedish court jails far-right leader who burned Qur’an

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Danish politician Rasmus Paludan sentenced to four months for incitement against ethnic group

A far-right Danish-Swedish politician has been sentenced to prison on charges of incitement against an ethnic group for burning copies of the Qur’an and making offensive statements about Muslims.

Rasmus Paludan was the first person to go on trial in Sweden – and is now the first to be sentenced – for burning the Qur’an during an organised demonstration.

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Climate crisis leaves European farmers vulnerable to far right, say campaigners

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Populist groups capitalising on costly environmental policies that affect farmers by offering them support

The painful impacts of the climate crisis and globalisation have left farmers in Europe marginalised and vulnerable to populist politicians, warn anti-racism campaigners and academics.

They argue that if the transition to a low-carbon economy is not properly funded, planned and equitable, it risks fuelling a resurgence of the far right across the continent.

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The ultranationalist TV channel fast becoming Israel’s most-watched news source

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Channel 14, which counts Netanyahu as a supporter, has denied allegations that its coverage has incited war crimes

An ultranationalist Israeli television channel backed by the government is fast emerging as one of the country’s most-watched news sources, despite allegations from liberal groups that it is inciting war crimes, and claims from the army that it is riling up hatred of its generals for not being far enough to the right.

Last month Channel 14, also known as Now 14, beat Israel’s principal mainstream news outlet, Channel 12, in viewer ratings when 343,000 Israelis watched Channel 14’s “Patriots” talkshow, known for its virulent rhetoric on Gaza.

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Portuguese far-right leader criticised over police shooting comments

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Complaint filed against André Ventura and two Chega colleagues for statements about fatal shooting of black man

Former politicians, musicians and lawyers from across Portugal have filed a criminal complaint against the leader of the far-right Chega party over “false or biased” statements made after a fatal police shooting of a black man.

For the past week, Portugal has been reeling from the death of Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old chef originally from Cape Verde. An official police statement initially said Moniz had fled, crashed a car and brandished a knife before an officer opened fire.

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Group that emerged from Tory party hosts forum for Britain’s far right

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Traditional Britain Group’s London conference includes speaker from Germany’s AfD party and far-right activists

A group that emerged out of a faction of the Conservative party has become a forum for Britain’s splintered far right.

A private conference hosted earlier this month by the Traditional Britain Group (TBG) was attended by figures from the Homeland party, an extreme nationalist group, as well as rivals from other groups such as Patriotic Alternative.

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Muslims in Europe experiencing ‘worrying surge’ in racism, survey finds

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‘Dehumanising rhetoric’ blamed as almost half of respondents say they recently suffered discrimination

Muslims across Europe are grappling with a “worrying surge” of racism that is being fuelled in part by “dehumanising anti-Muslim rhetoric”, the EU’s leading rights agency has said, as it published a survey in which nearly half of the Muslim respondents said they had recently experienced discrimination.

Published on Thursday by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the survey of 9,600 Muslims across 13 member states found that racism and discrimination threads through most aspects of their lives.

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Loser of Austrian election to try to form government after parties shun far right

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People’s party tasked with coalition talks with Social Democrats after winning Freedom party fails to find partner

Austria’s president has tasked the incumbent chancellor with forming a new government, after the general election winner, the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ), failed to find a coalition partner to allow it to take power.

Alexander Van der Bellen, the 80-year-old head of state, told reporters he had asked Karl Nehammer, head of the centre-right People’s party (ÖVP), to begin negotiations with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPÖ).

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Why immigration is back on the European Union’s agenda

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The new mood to tighten laws is driven in large part by the success of far-right parties, in power in seven countries

EU leaders met in Brussels today with migration at the top of the agenda. Here we examine why that has happened – and what the European Commission, as well as national capitals, might do about it.

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Italy passes law clamping down on surrogacy tourism

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Italians who go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy will face jail terms and fines of up to €1m

Italy’s parliament has made it illegal for couples to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy – a pet project of the prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s party that activists say is meant to target same-sex partners.

Since taking office in 2022, Meloni has pursued a highly conservative social agenda, looking to promote what she sees as traditional family values, making it progressively harder for LGBTQ couples to become legal parents.

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Bella Ciao: a brief history of the resistance anthem sung to Viktor Orbán

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A look at the origins and appeal off the song MEPs used to serenade the Hungarian PM in Strasbourg

“This is not Eurovision,” said the speaker of the European parliament, Roberta Metsola, as she tried to silence leftwing MEPs greeting the visiting Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, with a rowdy rendition of the classic anti-fascist anthem Bella Ciao.

The bang-your-fists-on-the-table motif at the heart of this earworm of a ditty – whose title means “Goodbye, beautiful” – may indeed sound like something cooed through dry fog by a spandex-clad blond at the European song contest. But the story it tells reaches far deeper into the continent’s history than the annual kitsch music extravaganza, telling an age-old tale of the left’s determined struggle against political oppression.

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How remigration became a buzzword for global far right

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Electoral success of parties in Germany and Austria backing mass deportation linked to the term’s growing use by mainstream politicians, say experts

They poured on to streets across Germany in the tens of thousands, wielding placards that read “Nazis out” and “Never again is now”.

Appalled by revelations that some among the far-right Alternative für Deutschland had attended a meeting in Potsdam at which “remigration” had been on the agenda, the protesters offered a powerful rebuttal to the idea that the mass deportation of migrants – including those with German citizenship – was a valid policy option for any decent politician.

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Austrian parties to begin talks on forming government after far-right win

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Exit polls show Freedom party’s election gains came thanks to strong support among younger voters

Austria’s main parties are preparing to begin tense wrangling to form a government amid warnings about the country’s democracy after the far right’s watershed victory in a general election in which angry voters punished centrist incumbents over migration and inflation.

On Sunday, the anti-Islam, Kremlin-friendly Freedom party (FPÖ) scored its strongest result since its founding after the second world war by former Nazi functionaries and SS officers with just over 29% of the vote. The outcome surpassed expectations and beat the ruling centre-right People’s party (ÖVP) by nearly three percentage points. The centre-left opposition Social Democratic party (SPÖ) turned in its worst-ever performance with 21% while the Greens, junior partners in government, sank to 8%.

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Wilders and Orbán congratulate Austria’s far-right Freedom party on poll success – as it happened

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Dutch and Hungarian politicians among those hailing result for pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam FPÖ

Karl Nehammer, Austria’s chancellor, called the result, which will send shock waves through Europe, “bitter” while his defence minister, Klaudia Tanner, admitted the debacle for the governing parties was a “wake-up call”.

Because it failed to win an absolute majority, the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) will need a partner to govern.

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Marine Le Pen and other RN figures go on trial over EU fake jobs allegations

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French far-right leader and 24 others from National Rally party allegedly embezzled European parliament funds

The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has gone on trial on charges of embezzling money from the European parliament, in a high-profile case that could endanger her presidential ambitions.

“We have not broken any rules,” the three-time presidential candidate of the far-right National Rally (RN) said before the start of the hearings in Paris, adding that she was in a “very calm” mood.

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Far-right Freedom party finishes first in Austrian election, latest results suggest

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Party wins 28.8% of votes ahead of centre-right People’s party’s 26.3%, according to near-complete count

The far right won the most votes in an Austrian election for the first time since the Nazi era on Sunday, as the Freedom party (FPÖ) rode a tide of public anger over migration and the cost of living to beat the centre-right People’s party (ÖVP).

The pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam FPÖ won 29.2% of votes, beating the ruling ÖVP of the chancellor, Karl Nehammer, into second place on 26.5%, according to near-complete results.

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