It should come as no surprise that the geopolitical landscape is far from stable, with the
ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, Donald Trump’s tumultuous return to power, and the rise in
far-right support across Europe in recent democratic elections. Throughout Europe over the
last 5 years, we have seen a startling increase in right-wing political influence, with countries
such as Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, and the Netherlands now hosting right-
wing groups in national government. Whilst, in Sweden, a far-right party is propping up a
coalition government, and in Austria there is significant political turmoil following its
September election, which saw the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) win the first majority for a
right-wing party in the country since 1945. This victory sparked coalition negotiations with the
central Conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), which have recently collapsed, leading to a
political stalemate with a resolution that seems unlikely to appear anytime soon. Germany
has become the latest addition to this list, with their most recent Federal Election seeing the
far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) secure 20% of the electorate’s votes, doubling their
support from the last election and making them the second-largest party in the Bundestag.
Although the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has refused to enter into a coalition with the
AFD as per the ‘cordon sanitaire’ electoral strategy, the rapid rise in popularity of these right-
wing parties over the past 5-years should not be ignored.
Why Right-Wing Parties are Gaining Traction?
A huge reason why right-wing parties are gaining support is due to widespread
disillusionment with current governments. Many of their voters feel that manifesto promises
have not been fulfilled or that policies are simply not going far enough to address peoples
concerns such as war, crime, the economic instability, and immigration. This dissatisfaction
has led to a growing preference nationalistic rhetoric with voters calling for homogeneous
societies over culturally diverse ones. This is something voiced explicitly by the right-wing
electorate who express fears over the perceived loss of their cultural and religious identity.
Many believe this is down to immigration policies which have failed to promote immigration
thus leading to the erosion of traditional values. These parties gain popularity through their
delivery of simplistic answers to complex issues such as immigration, economic instability,
and geopolitical tensions consistently focusing their platforms on national identity as the
solution to these challenges. This isolationist ideology held by right-wing parties brings the
European Union itself under severe scrutiny, with these parties viewing the EU’s integrated
structure as a direct threat to national identity and sovereignty, prompting widespread
Euroscepticism, something which Brexit has not helped with.
Why the Right-Wing is Appealing to Younger Generations?
One of the most alarming aspects of this political shift across Europe is the increasing
support for right-wing parties amongst young voters. Young people represent a significant
portion of the electorate, yet many voice feeling ignored of disregarded by centrist political
parties. Traditional parties have struggled to engage younger people over recent years,
allowing right-wing groups to fill this gap through their effective use of social media. This was
particularly evident in Germany’s recent federal election, where the AfD demonstrated a
strong understanding of how to appeal to younger voters, successfully using their social
media platforms to target young voters. Because of their strong emphasis on social media as
a part of their campaign the AfD was able to secure 21% of the vote amongst the under-24
demographic, this shift in engagement highlights the growing disconnect between traditional
political parties and younger voters, who feel their concerns are not being addressed
adequately by those in power.
How This Trend Affects Us
One of the major features of recent news is American politics and its chaotic policies towards
the rest of the world, it is becoming increasingly clear through this that no part of European
political discourse is safe from the influence of the American political leaders. These figures
have outwardly engaged with far-right leaders on numerous occasions, with one of the most
recent seeing Elon Musk give a speech at an AfD rally in Germany, repurposing Trump’s
campaign slogan into ‘Make Europe Great Again’, a rather unsettling conceit considering the
phrase’s historical origins in the political sphere. It is evident through this that transatlantic
political ideology is likely to play a significant role in this new wave of European nationalism if
we let it. This influence is slowly becoming more evident across the UK, where we have also
seen an increase in support for right-wing political groups. Most notably, in a recent YouGov
poll, there was an increase in popularity for Reform UK, which is now the second most
popular party in the UK, trailing the leader labour by just 1%. This dramatic surge in right-
wing support in the UK follows similar patterns observed across Europe, highlighting a
broader shift in political ideology, and emphasising the dissatisfaction people are feeling
towards traditional political parties. If centrist and left-leaning parties fail to address the
concerns which are encouraging voters to support right wing parties, then Europe could
soon find itself in a position where it is more fragmented and nationalistic than at any point
since the World Wars.