AfD, Chega!, Vox: Far-right parties are on the rise in Europe

Photo Courtesy: Elke Wetzig via Wikimedia Commons; Zoe Dahse translation: ‘being outside of democracy is unconstitutional’

In the wake of mass nationwide protests in Germany against the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD), following the release of a report that party members had discussed mass deportation plans at a meeting of extremists in November, the prominence of far-right parties in the European political sphere can no longer be categorised as a future problem. Rather, this new political reckoning marks itself as a watershed moment, as alarming levels of support from recent years continue to increase. This is particularly pertinent with regards to newly-nascent far-right parties such as Germany’s AfD, Portugal’s Chega! and Spain’s Vox, which have all been formed in a little more than a decade.

Why is support for the AfD rising in Germany?

The AfD was formed in 2013 with the aim of being an anti-establishment, anti-euro group following the European debt crisis; over time it has further shifted its focus onto anti-immigration policies. In the summer of 2015, with an influx of people mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan applying for asylum, Angela Merkel’s progressive ‘Wir Schaffen Das’ policy (which translates into ‘We’ll Manage This’) introduced an open-door policy for immigrants – in the year that followed more than 1 million people claimed asylum in Germany. The AfD in turn utilised this as a populist tool, turning the narrative into ‘You’ll manage this’ and a means of rallying anti-immigration sentiment. They explained rising levels of crime, terrorism and public disorder as a result of increased immigration.

The AfD’s popularity has now risen again as a result of high energy bills, food inflation and the moral and financial cost of defending Ukraine. The weakness of the current SPD-FDP and Green Party “Ampelkoalition” (“Traffic light coalition”), along with an increasing lack of trust in mainstream politics, has also contributed to this rise in support. Currently, the party is polling at 21%, second after the conservative CDU/CSU parties at 30%.

Similar trends across Europe

Polls for the European Parliament elections in June of this year suggest that Identity and Democracy (ID), the far-right political group of the European Parliament (of which the AfD is part of), will come in third place, seeing an increase from their current standing of 58 seats to 87 (out of 705 seats). The ID’s increased involvement is likely to influence the EU's policy stance on issues such as immigration, climate change and even EU enlargement. It is also a testament to the increase in far-right support across Europe in the last five years. 

In Portugal, polls for the upcoming general elections on March 10th show Chega (stylised as CHEGA!), an anti-immigrant, anti-Roma, anti-LGBTQ party, at 16%, in third place behind the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party. Chega has experienced a quick ascent: in 2019 they won one seat in the Portuguese Parliament in 2019 – in the 2022 general election, it won 12 seats.

In the Netherlands, in the November 2023 general elections, the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid), led by anti-Islam Eurosceptic radical Geert Wilders, won 37 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, becoming the largest party for the first time. This shift to the far-right has been “triggered by economic and cultural anxieties that have whipped up fears about immigrants”.

In response to this far-right victory in the Netherlands, Balázs Orbán, the Political Director of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party, posted on X: “Europe is waking up! The Dutch right-wing victory put another conservative flag on the map. It shows that people want change. They want a return to normality and safety. And only a conservative shift can bring that to Europe. The time for that has come. We’re back!”

Such emphasis on manipulating populist appeal and rhetoric can be seen most obviously in the names of these parties: Chega means “Enough!”, Spain's Vox gives a “voice” to those not heard and the AfD translates into “Alternative for Germany”, eschewing the norm and going against all the mainstream parties’ policies.

Looking towards the future

The far-right and its populist discourse speaks effectively to individual and cultural fears, but also offers no viable solutions. This is a weakness more progressive parties should take advantage of by offering answers to issues which the far-right will otherwise use as defence.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, the AfD’s party leader Alice Weidel explained that she does not expect the party to gain political power in Berlin “before 2029”, but insisted a future role for the AfD in government was “inevitable””. This is a sobering reminder that the increasing support for far-right parties in recent years could well continue, as European politicians grapple with how to successfully appeal to voters. Far-right parties have undoubtedly now become a part of the political landscape in Europe - it remains to be seen how well that can be countered.

Photo Courtesy: Elke Wetzig via Wikimedia Commons; Zoe Dahse translation: ‘2033: “we couldn't have known (this would happen again)!”’