Briefings
The lure of the far-right
On Presseurop
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Xenophobia: What's gone wrong in Denmark?
11 November 20103733 Frankfurter Rundschau Frankfurt -
Populism: The fear peddlers hobbling Europe
3 November 20101723 Libération Paris -
Austria: Far right breakthrough in Vienna
11 October 20101PresseuropDie Presse -
Populism: Far-right, la nouvelle vague
1 September 2010412 EUobserver.com Brussels -
FAR RIGHT IN EUROPE (7): The discreet power of Danish populists
18 May 2010921 De Groene Amsterdammer Amsterdam -
FAR RIGHT IN EUROPE (6): PC and the rise of Geert Wilders
9 April 2010543 Dilema Veche Bucharest -
FAR RIGHT IN EUROPE (5): The Turk, Austria’s favorite whipping boy
6 April 2010482 Le Monde Paris -
FAR RIGHT IN EUROPE (4): Jobbik, riding a wave of disappointment
1 April 2010152 Komment.hu Budapest -
FAR RIGHT IN EUROPE (3): Northern League - “good-hearted lads”
26 March 2010451 Le Monde Paris -
Far right in Europe (2): Front National, the northern campaign
23 March 2010301 Libération Paris -
Far Right in Europe (1): Golden age of the new populists
20 March 20101062 Le Monde Paris -
Netherlands: Wilders’ imaginary Eurabia
4 March 2010487 Mladá Fronta DNES Prague
The Danish parliament has recently toughened up laws regarding family reunification for immigrants. German daily Frankfurter Rundschau fears that this marks yet another step towards in an openly aggressive anti-immigrant policy, one which could spread throughout Europe. 
The new far right not only exerts a growing influence on national governments, it is also organising at a European level and could soon weigh heavily on the very workings of the EU, warns French columnist Bernard Guetta. 
Anti-Muslim group the English Defence League, that includes Sikhs, Jews and gays in its ranks, is federating with other European movements that are part of a new wave far right. In October, they plan to march in Amsterdam, in defense of their hero, the immigrant baiting Geert Wilders.
In less than a decade, the Danish People's Party has risen from the rank of a small movement to that of a fully accredited member of the political establishment. While it has always theoretically formed part of the opposition, it has nonetheless succeeded in exerting a growing influence on the government in Copenhagen, explains De Groene Amsterdammer.
More and more voters in the Netherlands are casting their ballots for the extreme right. For the Romanian weekly Dilema veche, the Dutch state is largely responsible for this phenomenon. Political correctness gone mad has undermined the cherished value of freedom of speech and paved the way for the rise of Geert Wilders. 
In the prosperous Austrian state of Vorarlberg, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) has harvested more than 20% of the vote by brandishing the spectre of "an invasion" of Turkish migrants who would threaten "the social peace." 
Having posted major gains in European elections last year, Gábor Vona's populist, xenophobic, anti-Rom party, Jobbik, may attract an even greater proportion of the vote in general elections scheduled for 11 and 25 April, which could enable it to play significant role in the formation Hungary's next government. 
Founded in the late 1980s in protest against abuses of power by "Roman" political parties, the movement lead by Umberto Bossi is Silvio Berlusconi's most faithful ally in government. With a share of the vote that has increased from less than 4% in 2001 to more than 10% in the 2008 European elections, it's likely to make further gains in regional elections to held on the 28 and 29 March. 
The resurgence of Jean Marie Le Pen's party, which scored over 20% in several areas in the French regional elections held on the 14 and 21 March, has come as a surprise. Libération reports from the rural hinterland of Pas-de-Calais (Nord), where Le Pen's daughter Marine, campaigning against Europe's common agricultural policy, won a record 22% of the vote. 
A number of European countries are seeing a renaissance of far right movements. While those in the East espouse Fascist ideologies, the Western brands target multiculturalism and Islam in particular. 
Brandishing the spectre of "the threat of Islam," populist leader Geert Wilders obtained a breakthrough in the 3 March local elections, which will constitute a major step forward in his campaign to become prime minister. For Czech daily Mladá Fronta Dnes, Muslims are not a real threat to multicultural Dutch society: the main danger is the manner in which the majority of the population intends to live with them.