See full table of contents See less of the table of contents Summary Here are the results of waves 2 and 3 of our electoral protest indicator, launched in September 2019 in view of the upcoming presidential election. Just how threatening Europe’s populists found the events in the United States could be seen in their reaction: One by one, they distanced themselves from the rioting or fell silent. Many populist and euroskeptic parties now find themselves increasingly marginalized. Mr. Sikorski, the Polish former minister, is a political opponent of the current government in his country. Hitler spent the prison term he was handed after the violence writing “Mein Kampf.”, Mr. Moïsi cited the death of Ashli Babbitt, a military veteran shot by a Capitol Police officer. Anyone who doubts that just needs to look around the world at populist leaders who use the same divisive tactics. Populist movements have a history of memorable and charismatic leaders, from fascists like Mussolini to revolutionaries like Che Guevara. Even if populist leaders seem shaken by the events in Washington and nervous about further violence at the inauguration on Jan. 20, there remains considerable anxiety among mainstream politicians about anti-elitist, anti-government political movements in Europe, especially amid the confusion and anxiety produced by the coronavirus pandemic. You can adjust your cookie choices in those tools at any time. We need to take the gloves off — liberal democracy must defend itself.”, Enrico Letta, a former prime minister of Italy who is now dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po, said that Mr. Trump “gave credibility to the disruptive attitudes and approaches of populist leaders in Europe, so having him out is a big problem for them.” Then came the riot, he said, “which I think changed the map completely.”. The rioting appears to have damaged the prospects of populist leaders in Europe. For now, they hold governmental responsibility in only two … But already in difficulty over reported anti-Semitic remarks and rifts in his party, Forum for Democracy, Mr. Baudet, too, has had little to say so far. But Mr. Moïsi, the Institut Montaigne analyst, struck a darker note. On average, around 13% of the vote in Western Europe accrues to populist parties, a 4% increase compared to 2000. “When you’ve aroused your supporters with political arguments about us versus them, they are not opponents but enemies who must be fought with all means, and it both leads to violence and makes conceding power impossible.”. With elections in his country in March, Mr. Wilders wrote on Twitter, “The outcome of democratic elections should always be respected, whether you win or lose.”. Six months ago, many European leaders worried that the wave of popular discontent that led to the Brexit vote in … Shareable Link. Table 1 lists the most important populist parties in Europe today – only the most successful party in each country is included. Despite the broader negative trend, right-wing populist parties in the European Union still lead the polls in Poland and Hungary, and are first and third in Italy. Since 2000, populist parties have more than tripled their support among European voters; populist leaders now hold government posts in eleven Finally, Eastern European populists’ success is rooted not only in frustrated voters’ economic concerns, as seems to be true in Western Europe, but in the electorate’s need to organize around a leader’s narrative. “Nobody followed Britain out, and now there’s the collapse of Trump.”. Having written about the emotions of geopolitics, he sees a dangerous analogy in what happened at the Capitol, noting that it could go down as a heroic event among many of Mr. Trump’s supporters. Thus, in the words of Rovira Kaltwasser (2014: 479), populists may conceive of ‘the people’ as the ‘ethnos’ as well as the ‘plebs’ (or a combination of the two). If the New Left wins, Europe will come out strengthened but it will have to undergo deep structural reform to bring its institutions closer to the people – and away from the private corporate interests that hold it hostage now. But when it comes to battling a new disease like COVID-19, the disruptive policies of populists are faring poorly compared to more resilient liberal democratic models in countries like Germany, France and Iceland in Europe, or South Korea or Japan in Asia. JUDY DEMPSEY: I'm not so sure it's a big loss for the populations. After the violence in Washington, Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right National Rally in France, condemned “any violent act that aims to disrupt the democratic process.”, Valery Hache/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. Has the populist tide sweeping Europe crested? Janis A. Emmanouilidis, director of studies at the European Policy Center in Brussels, said that there was no uniform European populism. Unlike Trump, populist leaders in Europe have been adept at taking advantage of the coronavirus crises. Use the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. If the Draghi government succeeds, there is a good possibility that public opinion in other populist-led countries, like Hungary or Poland, will start looking to their centers, too. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, head of the Vatican's evangelization congregation, has expressed concern over the "hijacking" of religion by populist leaders who … While most European leaders were still scrambling on Nov. 12 to establish contact with Trump, Farage was sitting with the President-elect in his penthouse in midtown Manhattan. I think it's a big loss for the individual leaders, frankly. “But,” he added, “the fear of the worst helps to avoid the worst.”, The “amazing polarization of society” and the violence in Washington “creates a lot of deterrence in other societies,” Mr. Emmanouilidis said. The far-right and populist leaders in Milan are making one of the strongest challenges to the European status quo in decades, united under an anti-migrant, anti-Islam, anti-bureaucracy banner. Le Pen, Italian populist leaders have felt “obliged to cut their ties to some forms of extremism,” Mr. Letta said. This month, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the anti-immigrant League party and one of Mr. Bannon’s earliest recruits, held a rally in Milan of European populists, including Ms. See details. In Brazil, Bolsonaro has also manufactured a crisis where there wasn’t one. artnet.com - Dorian Batycka • 29d. President Andrzej Duda of Poland, who met Mr. Trump in Washington in June, has simply called the Capitol riot an internal matter. “We even start to think that Brexit has been something positive for the rest of Europe, allowing a relaunch,” Mr. Letta said. Matteo Salvini, center, populist leader of the anti-immigrant League party in Italy, has condemned the rioting at the Capitol. Learn more. “Poland believes in the power of American democracy,” he added. But after the violence, which she said left her “very shocked,” Ms. On a cold morning in late December last year, Zdenka … Read more on artnet.com. The rise of populism, mostly right-leaning, is the most important European political development of the 21st century. Salvini’s move to solidify the populist movement in Europe, meanwhile, was criticized by his coalition partner at home, 5-Star Movement leader, Luigi Di Maio. In Poland, the government has been very pro-Trump and public television did not acknowledge his electoral defeat until Mr. Trump did himself, said Radoslaw Sikorski, a former foreign and defense minister who is now chairman of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the United States. The continent is a hotbed for populist movements, mostly driven by anti-immigrant sentiment. The various movements have different characteristics in different countries, and outside events are only one factor in their varying popularity, he noted. At first, the spread of the coronavirus seemed like a boon for Europe’s populists. Brazil and India -- which, like the US, have populist leaders -- might be suffering with soaring infection and death rates, but so too is Western Europe, a bastion for liberal democracy. Di Maio, in a letter to Corriere della Sera, wrote that Salvini was aligning with parties that influence policies in countries that have refused to help Italy with the migrant crisis. 4. The riot at the U.S. Capitol and bogus claims of election fraud have led former allies of President Trump to distance themselves. Many European leaders now back the call of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to close Europe’s borders, leaving refugees in the lurch. To ward off populism, Europe's centrist … There are no populist governments in power in Western Europe. Countries with high support for populists 10 Most successful populist pares 14 Populists in government 18 Populist pares in EU Member States 21 Western Europe 21 Central and eastern Europe 24 Southern Europe 28 Northern Europe 31 Conclusion 34 Appendix I. He placed the British National Party, the National Democratic Party of Germany, the German People's Union and the former Dutch Centre Party in the first category, whose prototype would be the disbanded Italian Social Movement; whereas he placed the Fren… But populist leaders not just in Europe but also farther afield—from Brazil to Indonesia—have failed to adequately respond to the crisis. BRUSSELS — For Europe’s populists, the electoral defeat of President Trump, who has been a symbol of success and a strong supporter, was bad enough. “We should not interfere in what is happening in America, that is America’s business, we are rooting for them and we trust that they will manage to solve their own problems,” he told state radio. “For them, the world will be a lonelier place.”. But for the continent’s populist nationalists, including a group of national leaders in Central Europe, the election outcome has prompted dismay, and some foreboding. “Now the most pressing issue is Covid-19, but it’s not at all clear how politics will play out post-pandemic,” he said. In fact, accusedwould be a better term, as most people use populism is a As COVID-19 spread across Europe last year, mainstream leaders overcame their differences and … “They have lost this ability to preserve this ambiguity about their ties to extremists on the margins,” he added. “Violence is never the solution,” he said. The Pandemic Has Made Some Europe’s Leaders Populists. The Pandemic Has Made Some Europe’s Leaders Populists. Populism in Europe is a homegrown phenomenon, they said, so while populist leaders could point to Mr. Trump as a kindred spirit while he was … Postwar populists found an early toehold in Europe in Alpine countries with long histories of nationalist or far-right tendencies. Many populist and euroskeptic parties now find themselves increasingly marginalized. Le Pen pulled back, condemning “any violent act that aims to disrupt the democratic process.”, Like Ms. The coronavirus disaster alone, he added, represented “the revenge of competence and the scientific method” against the obscurantism and anti-elitism of populism, noting that the troubles surrounding Brexit have also been a blow. Because populist leaders want to identify with the masses, they portray intellectuals as the high-brow end of the elitist faction, and predictably direct their scorn towards the literati, journalists, artists, and especially academics. You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. As EU statesmen struggle to respond to challenges from populist leaders, they would do well to heed the words of this relationship advice columnist: “You did have every right to say what bothered you and ask him to stop. Europe’s far-right stumbles as infighting and rivals sap strength. Alberto Pizzoli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, Geert Wilders, a prominent right-wing party leader, called the Capitol riot an internal matter. “It says two things: If you elect them, they don’t leave power easily, and if you elect them, look at what they can do in calling for popular anger.”. “With Trump’s defeat, there was an audible sound of disappointment from the populist right in Central Europe,” Mr. Sikorski said. 1. This information is shared with social media, sponsorship, analytics, and other vendors or service providers. If populists win, the European Union and the dream of a United Europe will be badly broken as a retrograde “Europe of Nations” is installed. The wear and tear of populist leaders is still at work. Italy's Matteo Salvini - leader of the League - is a key figure in Europe's nationalist scene, … Two core issues lie at the root of today’s rising populism: the challenge of migration and the lingering euro crisis. But populist parties are still on the rise, and their leaders are undeterred. In this way, the coronavirus is … From France and Germany to Italy and Sweden, parties that ruled from the center for decades are being fragmented and pushed aside by the divisive rhetoric and tactics of populists. Italy's populist Five Star Movement and anti-immigrant League parties have emerged as two major players in the latest elections - the most recent of several such results in Europe. In France, Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right National Rally, is expected to mount another significant challenge to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2022 election. As COVID-19 spread across Europe last year, mainstream leaders overcame their differences and … After the Capitol attack, Mr. Duda said, “Poland believes in the power of American democracy.”. "I'm not so sure it's a big loss for the populations. Eastern Europe's populist strongman leaders are having a hard time accepting Trump has lost. Still, Forum for Democracy and Mr. Wilders’s Party for Freedom together are likely to get about 20 percent of the vote in the Dutch elections, said Rem Korteweg, an analyst at the Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands. Unlike Trump, populist leaders in Europe have been adept at taking advantage of the coronavirus crises. They are second in France and the Netherlands, and third in Spain and Sweden. Even if populist leaders seem shaken by the events in Washington and nervous about further violence at the inauguration on Jan. 20, there remains … The attachment to Europe limits the populist horizon. Populist Leaders in Central and Eastern Europe Have a New Target in Their Fight Against Liberalism: Art Museum Directors. If economies tank and populists gain power in France or Italy, he said, “God forbid when Europe faces the next crisis.” That concern — with an eye on the 2022 election — seems to have been partly why Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has been so solicitous of France and of the demands of Mr. Macron. The Pandemic Has Made Some Europe’s Leaders Populists. The closure of the Central European University in Budapest perfectly follows this … Le Pen. Chronology: European populism in 2016 37 Appendix II. Europe, he said, needed to “wake up to the dangers of far-right violence” and conspiracy theories. 10 Excluded are countries without any populist parties: Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Andorra. Former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, whose far-right League Party was sharing power uneasily with the anti-establishment 5Star Movement (M5S) in Western Europe’s first populist government, thought the country was ripe for a hard-right turn and pulled the plug on the coalition in mid-August, demanding an early election. “We can’t assume this kind of craziness will go away, because they have their own facts. These leaders have invoked appeals to … Mr. Trump with President Andrzej Duda of Poland in the Oval Office in June. List of populist pares in the European Union 43. A high-profile Dutch populist, Thierry Baudet, has been silent about the events in Washington. Piero Ignazi divided right-wing populist parties, which he called "extreme right parties", into two categories: he placed traditional right-wing parties that had developed out of the historical right and post-industrial parties that had developed independently. “There’s far more far-right violence than jihadi violence,” he said. In Austria, Germany and Italy support for once-ascendant populists has dwindled during Covid crisis . Thierry Baudet, another high-profile Dutch populist, has aligned himself with Mr. Trump and the anti-vaccination movement, and in the past has called the independence of the judiciary and a “phony parliament” into question. The project specifically looks at parties that “obtained at least 2% of the vote in at least one national parliamentary election since 1998.” The following is a list of populist parties, leaders and movements. Now, like Ms. “I’m not so sure it’s a big loss for the populations. Eastern Europe’s populist leaders are having a hard time accepting that Trump has lost. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN. DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION. Eastern Europe's populist leaders are having a hard time accepting that Trump has lost. A Covid-19 vaccination centre in London, Britain, 2021. The survey’s questionnaire. For popular class voters, populism satisfies a desire for a sense of community. "I'm not so sure it's a big loss for the populations. Populismis a buzzword in the media around the world. The countries atop the rankings of COVID-19 deaths globally are led by populist, mold-breaking leaders. Le Pen, Matteo Salvini, populist leader of the Italian anti-immigrant League party, said, “Violence is never the solution.” In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, a prominent right-wing party leader, criticized the attack on the American legislature. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic. “If things go badly in America,” he said, “this woman could be the first martyr.”, European Populists Who Looked to Trump Now Look Away. Save. Similarly, Prime Minister Victor Orban of Hungary, a firm supporter of Mr. Trump, declined to comment on the riot. If Poland had a tumultuous 20th century, the 21st started off pretty well. Populist leaders meeting in Prague this weekend said the EU is “killing Europe”, as they agreed to work on building an alternative model of cooperation … Heather Grabbe, director of the Open Society European Policy Institute in Brussels, said the unrest showed how the populist playbook was founded on “us versus them and leads to violence.”, “But it’s very important to show where populism leads and how it plays with fire,” she added. There is virtually not apolitician who has not been labeled populist at one time. She was firm in supporting Mr. Trump, praised his election and Brexit as precursors to populist success in France and echoed his insistence that the American election was rigged and fraudulent. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/world/europe/trump-europe.html Left-wing populists in Europe also tend to place more emphasis on socio-economic themes in their distinction between the elite and ‘the people’ (see March 2011). Wodak said the populist wave in Europe began with the 9/11 attacks: the subsequent security crackdown legitimised cutting back on human rights and … The Slovenian government is denies it is waging a campaign to oust left-wing museum leaders. The data pinpoints populist discourse by leaders in all the largest countries in Europe and the Americas, as well as India. Eastern Europe’s populist leaders are having a hard time accepting that Trump has lost. People with positive views of populist parties in Europe tend to have a much less favorable attitude toward the European Union. “I’m not so sure it’s a big loss for the populations. But for the continent’s populist nationalists, including a group of national leaders in Central Europe, the election outcome has prompted dismay, and some foreboding. Europe’s Anti-Immigrant Parties and Illiberal Leaders. But his refusal to accept defeat and the violence that followed appears to have damaged the prospects of similarly minded leaders across the continent. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN. (AP Photo) Europe's Populist Leaders Have A Hard Time Accepting Trump Loss Strongmen leaders in Eastern Europe have lost a powerful ally in Donald Trump, … A pro-Trump mob outside the Capitol in Washington last week. “We see where it leads, we want to avoid it, but we are aware that we too could get to that point, that things could escalate.”. He said that Mr. Trump’s defeat and the violent responses to it were considerable blows to European populism. In Western Europe, populist parties are less prominent, less numerous, and less powerful than in the continent’s east. Across Europe, populists on both sides of the political spectrum are enjoying record popularity. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. 1 like • 7 shares. Dorian Batycka, February 8, 2021 The long day of rioting, violence and death as Mr. Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol has presented a clear warning to countries such as France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland about underestimating the force of populist anger and the prevalence of conspiracy theories aimed at democratic governments. A Covid-19 vaccination centre in London, Britain, 2021. The PopuList is an ongoing project to classify European political parties as populist, far right, far left and/or euroskeptic. The rioting reminded him, he said, of the failed Beer Hall Putsch by Adolf Hitler and the early Nazi Party in Munich in 1923. Eastern Europe's populist leaders are having a hard time accepting that Trump has lost. “What happened in the Capitol following the defeat of Donald Trump is a bad omen for the populists,” said Dominique Moïsi, a senior analyst at the Paris-based Institut Montaigne. But for the continent’s populist nationalists, including a group of national leaders in Central Europe, the election outcome has prompted dismay, and some foreboding. Politics Populist Leaders in Central and Eastern Europe Have a New Target in Their Fight Against Liberalism: Art Museum Directors The Slovenian government is denies it is waging a campaign to oust left-wing museum leaders. That effort to overthrow the Bavarian government also had elements of farce and was widely ridiculed, but it became “the foundational myth of the Nazi regime,” Mr. Moïsi said. When Scheppele, a longtime Orbán critic, flew to Budapest from within Europe, she was met at her plane within three hours of purchasing her ticket by six uniformed police officers. In Italy, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League party, used COVID-19 to advance his xenophobia. Italy.