
A. Badaeva (annabadaeva@mail.ru),
Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), 23, Profsoyuznaya Str., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation
Abstract. The article details the phenomenon of the modern right-wing radicalism in Western Europe. Special attention is paid to the analysis of far-right politics in different West European countries, such as France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway. The author identifies the causes and factors which facilitated the transformation of several marginal extreme right movements and parties into a real threat to the European political mainstream. At the same time, the article reveals the latest trends amid the Europe elections 2016-17: right-wing parties have limits on the political scene. Defeat of Marine Le Pen in France, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Timo Soini in Finland for some time will serve as a good reminder across Europe that populism and popularity, democratization of the party image and shifting to the political centre, charismatic leader and even joining the ruling class do not necessarily lead to the real power. Establishment activation in terms of anti-immigration and Euroskeptic rhetoric as well as party identification lability of modern European voters are clearly impairing far-right parties ratings and items. It’s finally destroying their strategic perspective. The 2017 election failure of the anti-EU UKIP Party in England demonstrated the complete inability of a right-wing single-issue party. Just Sweden Democrats and Alternative for Germany are still very successful. However, the voices of far-right parties will hardly be heard in the German Bundestag and in the Sweden Riksdag due to multiplicity of the ruling parliamentary coalitions in these two West European countries.
Keywords: far-right parties in Western Europe, the Radical Right, populism, Euroscepticism, xenophobia, France’s National Front, Dutch Party for Freedom, Alternative for Germany, Sweden Democrats
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