Pictured above – Sweden Democrat leader Jimme Akesson
Having spent a significant amount of time working and traveling throughout Scandinavia in recent years, I am here to inform you that Northern Europeans are not quite the open-minded and tolerant quasi-socialists that Lonely Planet might have you believe. While Scandinavia’s internationally recognized reputation as a leading champion of human rights cannot be denied, mass immigration has led to increased levels of workplace discrimination, race-related attacks and perhaps more significantly – a rapid rise in the popularity of right- wing political groupings.
The trend to the right is not a distinctly Scandinavia phenonmenon though, with many other European states experiencing similar trends in recent years, most notably in the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom. Despite high-levels of immigration over the last two decades and a more recent economic downturn, Ireland is a notable exception to this trend, with right wing parties failing to gain a modicum of public support. Even where they have not triumphed electorally, far-right parties have forced more mainstream politicians like French President Nicholas Sarkozy and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to echo their xenophobic rhetoric and implement policies to placate their supporters.
See link from “Business Insider Europe” for more detailed examples of European countries where extreme right-wing parties are on the rise: http://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-far-right-populist-parties-can-derail-the-eu-2011-6
Right-wing populism itself isn’t anything new. It has been a fixed entity for about 30 years in many European countries, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. What is new, however, is that the right-wing populists have discovered an issue that is much more appealing to voters than the usual anger against foreigners and the political class. They have found a powerful new issue in resistance against the growing visibility of Islam in Europe (most right wing parties are thus staunchly opposed to Turkey’s entry into the European Union). They portray themselves as the defenders of European values, and yet both they and their voters seem to care very little that some of those values, such as freedom of religion, are being trampled on in the struggle.
In recent years, right-wing populist parties have thwarted majority governments in three European Union countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and, most recently, Sweden. Although right-wing populists in the latter country only captured 5.7 percent of the vote, it was enough to deprive the incumbent center-right coalition of an absolute majority. All three countries were long known for their liberalism, but now political parties are gaining influence that see Islam as “our biggest foreign threat since World War II,” as Jimmie Akesson, the 31-year-old chairman of the Sweden Democrats, puts it. Akesson represents another somewhat disturbing trend among many right-wing figures – He is young, charismatic, highly educated and of an upper middle class background.
Akesson’s party (which now has more than 20 members of the Swedish parliament), have capitalised upon the internet and social media to circumvent censorship from the mainstream media and to spread their message. During their recent election campaign, the Sweden Democrats had a television ad showing an elderly woman who, as she is struggling along with her wheeled walker, is almost run over by women in burqas pushing their strollers. The women in burqas are hurrying toward a desk labeled “Government Budget.” “On Sept. 19, you can pull the immigration brake — and not the pension brake,” says a voice. (see video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkRRdth8AHc). While this video is clearly playing on people’s worst fears, it is definitely memorable in its simplicity and impact.
Thoughts?????
IrishPolitik 