International writing (EFE).- The latest example is Finland: far-right parties are establishing themselves in European governments, both national and local, above all thanks to their coalition agreements with the conservatives.
In two of the large EU countries (France and Germany) there is still a so-called “sanitary cordon” to prevent the extreme right from governing, but in others -Italy is the most emblematic- it has already been installed in the Executive for years .
The agreement in Finland occurs a few hours after the new city councils in Spain are constituted this Saturday, with commitments between conservatives and the extreme right to govern in several important cities.
In Italy, the extreme right has been in power since 2022, when Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy (FDI), born from the ashes of post-fascism, became the country’s first. It currently governs with its partners Forza Italia (FI) and the League.
Among the most controversial measures approved by the Meloni government is the one that limits the work of rescue NGOs in the Mediterranean, forcing their ships to disembark migrants in remote ports and imposing fines and blockades.
In addition, it has opposed the recognition of the European directive on children of single-parent families and has prohibited municipalities from registering these children with both parents of the same sex.
hungary and poland
The Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, is another example of a government with far-right policies.
He has made the protection of “Christian culture” and the defense of his country against “mass immigration” two central points of his Government, he has encouraged families to have more children with tax exemptions and subsidies, he has restricted education in sexual diversity and has prohibited the exposure of homosexuality to minors.
In Poland, the ultra-conservative ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, in the midst of a clash with European institutions over a law it sees as interfering with the democratic process, has restricted its policy on abortion, openly questions any European migration pact and, together with Hungary, it recently distanced itself from an EU declaration to condemn anti-LGBT violence.
The extreme right, accepted in the Nordic countries
Far-right parties have been accepted in most Scandinavian countries for years, without that label being applied to them, and have held or been part of governments.
In Finland, the far-right had previously been in power, between 2015 and 2017, when it formed a coalition government. Now, Finland’s conservative Kokoomus party has reached an agreement for a coalition government with the far-right party True Finns, the Swedish People’s Party (SFP) and the Christian Democrats.
During the negotiations there were heated discussions between right-wing populists and the SFP on issues relating to development policy, immigration and climate protection.
The benchmark for the Nordic xenophobic right has been the Danish People’s Party (DF), which between 2001-2011 and 2015-2019 was the external support of several right-wing governments.
In 2015, the DF became the second most voted formation in Denmark and the first in the right-wing bloc and even won a European election (in 2014), although it then began to lose steam.
The Norwegian Progress Party (FrP) was the one that achieved the greatest support in Scandinavia in a general election (22.9% in 2009) and the first to form part of an Executive, that of the conservative Erna Solberg, between 2013 and 2020.
Sweden, the largest and most populous country in the region, remained a Scandinavian anomaly for a decade, establishing a cordon sanitaire for Sweden Democrats (SD) since entering Parliament in 2010.
But the decision of the rest of the forces of the right-wing bloc to open an agreement with the SD allowed a change of government at the end of last year after the September 2022 elections, in which the far-right was the second force with 19%.
The SD now acts for the first time as external support to an executive headed by the conservative Ulf Kristersson.
In the heart of Europe
In Belgium, a very divided country politically and linguistically, the extreme right barely has a presence in the southern region (Wallonia), and in the center (Brussels), but is successful in the northern region (Flanders), where the nationalist party NV governs. -A, who in the European Parliament shares a group with VOX from Spain, Justice and Freedom from Poland or Hermanos from Italy.
In the Netherlands, the presence of the far-right is notable in both Chambers, where three parties with far-right ideology have 28 seats in a parliament of 150 deputies, and 11 of the 75 members of the Senate.
In addition, the peasants’ party, BBB, which is linked in some ideas to the extreme right, has another deputy and 16 senators.
BBB won the provincial elections last March, but with a result so divided that it has forced coalition agreements to be negotiated in the 12 provinces, and both the BBB and the Freedom Party (PVV), led by the far-right Geert Wilders, are an important part of that dialogue.
In Austria, the agreements of the conservatives with the extreme right have been normalized.
The far-right FPO, which was already in a national coalition with the Popular Party (ÖVP) between 2017 and 2019, capitalized on discontent over inflation and with the anti-covid measures during the pandemic, defining the anti-covid measures as “a triumph of freedom ”, and now leads the voting intention.
And the “sanitary cordon” in France and Germany
In Germany, thanks to the so-called “sanitary cordon”, the only far-right party with parliamentary seats, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), is excluded as a partner at all levels.
The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) still approved, under the leadership of Angela Merkel, successive resolutions ruling out all cooperation with the AfD, a line maintained by the head of the party, Friedrich Merz, who belongs to its most right-wing sector.
In France, there is the informal practice of the so-called “republican front”, whereby when there is a candidate from the extreme right in a second round of elections, the other parties support the rival candidate, although there are no formal agreements.
This concept has been applied since the 1950s in municipal, regional, legislative and presidential elections. Its peak moments have come when a far-right has reached the second round of the presidential elections (Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002 and his daughter Marine in 2017 and 2022).