Right-wing populism in European countries is becoming an important development trend in the modern world. Right-wing parties throughout Europe are enjoying increasing electoral success. The main factor in the promotion of right-wing radical parties is foreign cultural migration and the creation of closed communities of immigrants that are not amenable to cultural and social adaptation in host societies. European right-wing populism is currently undergoing a new stage in its development. Parties of this orientation in the EU countries have become legally structured movements with ideologies systemic for liberal European society. The process of their consolidation took several decades, following its results, the right-wing radicals secured the constant support of a certain segment of the electorate.
Social Effect
Despite the government’s attempts to ban the activities of the NPD, it continues to carry out its radical activities. They are characterized by hostility to democracy, xenophobia, racism, anti-Semitism, and the trivialization of Nazism (Shehaj, Shin, & Inglehart, 2019). In particular, as part of the campaign in the Bundestag, they aroused fears of migrant criminals and Islam. First of all, it was the Muslims who became the victims of such incitement from the NPD. Such a campaign had only a limited resonance because Germans were more afraid of right-wing extremists than Islamists. Moreover, right-wing radicalism is not regarded as a problem only in East Germany. From the right-wing extremists, according to German citizens, there is a great terrorist threat in Germany. Thus, the majority of respondents that the terrorist threat comes from right-wing extremists, while only a small part of citizens considers the most dangerous Islamists in this regard.
The attack on the editorial board of the satirical magazine provoked not only France but throughout Europe mass demonstrations on the one hand in support of tolerance, on the other hand, against the Islamists. German society today is also split into two camps. In various cities of Germany, large-scale meetings were held against the Islamization of Europe and for a change in German immigration policy (Grabow, 2016). In parallel, protests are held by those who consider such slogans to be a manifestation of xenophobia.
Pegida’s manifesto states that supporters of the movement do not oppose the reception of refugees who fled their homeland as a result of military operations, political or religious persecution. They consider asylum a manifestation of humanism, the duty of all humanity (Fähnrich & Lüthje, 2017). However, Pegida believes that in addition to the existing right to asylum in the Basic Law of Germany, it is also necessary to consolidate the obligation of migrants to integrate into German society.
Political Effect
As a result of the abolition of the minimum threshold for parties in elections, the NPD was able to send its only deputy to the European Parliament. For the first time, the German National Democratic Party (NPD), led by Udo Pastors, went to the European Parliament, gaining only 1% of the vote (Baugut & Neumann, 2019). Such symbolic results of the NPD in the European elections have become a reflection of the domestic political situation. Even though they have achieved a modest representation in the government in any country in the region, their participation in the ruling coalition in some cases or the status of the opposition in others testifies to the significant political potential of these parties. The increase in activity and demand for right-wing parties is due to objective processes that accompany the modern means of European integration, in particular, the crisis of pan-European identity, the growth of nationalism, and the diminishing role of nation-states, the problems of migration and integration of migrants. In this regard, the main goal of the “new right” is the revival of European culture, struck by the diseases of leftism, nihilism, and loss of roots.
Economical Effect
The NDP is particularly popular in the eastern lands of Germany among young people under 30 who are dissatisfied with rising unemployment, the economic crisis, the persisting gap between western and eastern lands, and the huge flows of migrants that only complicate the socio-economic situation in the country (Salmela & von Scheve, 2018). Evidently, the NPD or other extreme right-wing forces are unlikely to achieve serious political success in the future because it is not popular among the majority of the population, but the government nevertheless takes preventive measures, if not to ban the NPD, then to limit its activities. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution considers the NPD to be extremist and contrary to the Basic Law of Germany (Lees, 2018). The NPD is positioning itself as a “mouthpiece” of public opinion and the only real opposition force. An important propaganda tool for the NPD is the monthly newspaper with a circulation of thousands of copies, which are distributed throughout the country.
Conclusion
In conclusion, today, it can already be said with confidence that the collapse of the policy of multiculturalism contributed to the development and strengthening of right-wing radical ideas in Germany, which further aggravated the socio-economic and mental contradictions in German society. Right-wing populists who speculate on immigrants and religion, primarily Islam, play a large role in inciting xenophobia. The “migration card,” that is, the slogans about the need to reduce the number of immigrants, is used not only by the right-wing but also by the government parties, especially on the eve of the next elections to attract a larger electorate.
References
Baugut, P., & Neumann, K. (2019). How right-wing extremists use and perceive news media. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 96(3), 696-720.
Fähnrich, B., & Lüthje, C. (2017). Roles of social scientists in crisis media reporting: The case of the German populist radical right movement PEGIDA. Science Communication, 39(4), 415-442.
Grabow, K. (2016). Pegida and the alternative FüR Deutschland: Two sides of the same coin? European View, 15(2), 173-181.
Shehaj, A., Shin, A. J., & Inglehart, R. (2019). Immigration and right-wing populism: An origin story. Party Politics, 1-4.
Lees, C. (2018). The ‘Alternative for Germany’: The rise of right-wing populism at the heart of Europe. Politics, 38(3), 295-310.
Salmela, M., & von Scheve, C. (2018). Emotional dynamics of right- and left-wing political populism. Humanity & Society, 42(4), 434-454.