Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Gypsy-haters, holocaust-deniers, xenophobes, homophobes, anti-semites: the EU's new political force
Europe's far-right, xenophobic and extremist parties crossed a new threshold yesterday, winning more speaking time, money, and political influence in the European Parliament than ever before.
Claiming the backing of 23 million Europeans, ultra-nationalists secured enough MEPs to make a formal political grouping, underlining the growing challenge posed by the far right across the continent. For the first time since the Second World War a series of elections has swept nationalistic, far-right parties into office in municipal, regional, national and European parliament elections. The admission of Romania and Bulgaria in January of this year brought in enough far-right MEPs to form a bloc.
Mainstream politicians have been struggling for years to contain the threat from hardline nationalists and extremists who have entered coalitions or supported ruling governments in countries such as Austria, Denmark, Poland and Slovakia.
Amid formal protests and jeers in the Strasbourg Parliament, 20 MEPs yesterday signed up to the new formation called Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty (ITS). As a formal group, they are entitled to up to €1m in central funding. It is led by Bruno Gollnisch of France's National Front, who is awaiting a court verdict on charges of Holocaust denial.
Made up of ultra-nationalists the group includes one Bulgarian parliamentarian, Dimitar Stoyanov, who yesterday attacked the "Jewish establishment" and accused Roma parents of selling 12-year-olds into prostitution.
Even the ringtone of Mr Stoyanov's phone points to his hardline politics. It features a former Bulgarian national anthem which, he says, "tells of the atrocities of the Turkish army in the second Balkan war, how the rivers were flowing with blood and the widows weeping, and urges people to fight for Bulgaria".
A previous far-right grouping in the European Parliament faltered in the 1980s and rival MEPs predict that ITS will have a limited impact on the Strasbourg assembly.
Martin Schulz, leader of the socialist group which is the second-largest in the Parliament, appealed to other MEPs to unite to prevent ITS from securing senior positions in Strasbourg. He said: "We must not abandon this Parliament, which symbolises the integration of Europe, to those who deny all European values."
More
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2157360.ece
Mainstream politicians have been struggling for years to contain the threat from hardline nationalists and extremists who have entered coalitions or supported ruling governments in countries such as Austria, Denmark, Poland and Slovakia.
Amid formal protests and jeers in the Strasbourg Parliament, 20 MEPs yesterday signed up to the new formation called Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty (ITS). As a formal group, they are entitled to up to €1m in central funding. It is led by Bruno Gollnisch of France's National Front, who is awaiting a court verdict on charges of Holocaust denial.
Made up of ultra-nationalists the group includes one Bulgarian parliamentarian, Dimitar Stoyanov, who yesterday attacked the "Jewish establishment" and accused Roma parents of selling 12-year-olds into prostitution.
Even the ringtone of Mr Stoyanov's phone points to his hardline politics. It features a former Bulgarian national anthem which, he says, "tells of the atrocities of the Turkish army in the second Balkan war, how the rivers were flowing with blood and the widows weeping, and urges people to fight for Bulgaria".
A previous far-right grouping in the European Parliament faltered in the 1980s and rival MEPs predict that ITS will have a limited impact on the Strasbourg assembly.
Martin Schulz, leader of the socialist group which is the second-largest in the Parliament, appealed to other MEPs to unite to prevent ITS from securing senior positions in Strasbourg. He said: "We must not abandon this Parliament, which symbolises the integration of Europe, to those who deny all European values."
More
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2157360.ece
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$230.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network
"These are all our friends," he boomed, and then stepping forward he added in a loud stage whisper: "They all hate each other, of course, but they are all our friends."
Not for the first time, the veteran French far-right leader made a good point in a detestable cause. The idea of a pan-European far-right movement is, in itself, absurd.
Because they are xenophobes, because they hate one another, the various far-right movements in Europe can never truly form a common cause. The creation of a far-right group in the European Parliament is a contradiction in terms - but also a profoundly disquieting sign of the times.
The far right cannot be a coherent pan-European movement but it can be a virus which spreads through the democratic institutions that it abhors like some kind of super-bug, a political "MRSA".
Because the EU insists on a degree of proportional representation (PR) in European elections, the far right is much better represented in Strasbourg than in many national parliaments. This is not an argument against PR but gives the fundamentally anti-democratic, European ultra-right a European platform.
More
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2157382.ece
Thankfully, there is little sign that the ITS will be able to organise itself properly. Its leader, Bruno Gollnish, is awaiting trial on charges of Holocaust denial. And its members - ranging from Jean-Marie Le Pen and Alessandra Mussolini to Ashley Mote, formerly of the UK Independence Party - have little in common other than a generalised xenophobia. Most actually voted against the very Romanian and Bulgarian accession that has enabled them to form a recognised group.
But it would be foolish to ignore the symbolic importance of this development, nor its practical consequences. For one thing, the ITS now qualifies for EU funding. The motley group also has a right to parliamentary speaking time and at least one committee chairmanship. The ITS may be some way from being a serious force in the parliament, but it has the potential to be a considerable nuisance. And of course it has a new megaphone for its deeply unpleasant propaganda.
It is important, therefore, that the rest of the European Parliament unites in condemning the ITS and what it stands for. This is especially important for the mainstream centre-right forces in Europe, which need to stand firm in opposition to the racists and bigots. This underlines the mistake that the Conservative leader, David Cameron, is making with his attempt to break his party's connection with the largest grouping in the parliament, the European People's Party, to form a new grouping of Eurosceptics.
This will not only water down opposition to the ITS, but serves to marginalise the Conservatives - and Britain - in Europe. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is refusing to meet with Mr Cameron while he is committed to breaking off with the EPP. The centre-right candidate for the French presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy, is reported to have turned down an invitation to speak at the last Conservative conference on the same grounds.
More
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2157352.ece