Right-wing nationalist and populist parties throughout Europe are predicted to make fresh gains in upcoming elections, with the authors of a new report for the European Council on Foreign Relations demanding fellow globalists heed their “wake-up call.”
The report, reviewed by The National Pulse, combined surveys across all 27 European Union (EU) member states with modeling based on the past performance of national parties. It found that nationalist and populist parties are on track to gain in nine EU countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia. The document also predicts a second- or third-place finish for populist and nationalist parties in another nine EU member states: Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.
The authors worry that the changes would harm the green agenda, open borders activism, and support for Ukraine.
It adds: “These findings should also be set against the expectation that whether or not Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in autumn 2024 – and the polls currently suggest there is a real possibility he will – Europe will have a less globally engaged United States to rely on.”
If the report’s predictions come to pass, nearly half of the seats in the European Parliament will be held by parties “outside the ‘super grand coalition’ of the three centrist groups.” This would result in a right-wing populist coalition emerging as the majority for the first time.
The report concludes: “While progressive European leaders cannot, and should not, tell voters what to do, they can build a credible alternative to a sharp right turn in the political mandate given to the next set of EU institutions. From the outset of 2024, they need to tell a convincing story about the necessity of reaching outward in a dangerous world.”
