In the recent parliamentary elections in Greece, nationalist parties dubbed ‘far right’ by liberal media far-right parties managed to win almost 13% of the vote. Liberals say the success of the ‘radicals’, which is also seen in many other parts of the EU, could have a profound political effect and push moderate political forces to take more extreme steps such as repression in order to maintain popularity.

In the recent national elections in Greece, the voters’ choice of far-right parties won almost 13% of the vote. Their success may be the most significant in a recent string of victories among similar parties across Europe.

The ruling conservative New Democracy party won a landslide victory with 40.5% of the vote. But its triumph was to a backdrop of achievements by the newly created far-right organization Spartans, which won an influential 12 of 300 seats in the Greek parliament, the author of the article notes. 

Many consider the Spartans to be the direct successors of the Golden Dawn Party which a previous Athens regime declared an illegal organisation in 2020. Its former leaders, Ilias Kasidiaris, is serving a 13-year prison term – allegedly for violence against migrants and political rivals, supported the new movement and congratulated it on its results, Smith notes.

 Martha Lorimer, described as an expert at the ultra-liberal London School of Economics, believes that the success of the far right in Greece and other EU countries has had a profound political effect. As a result, traditionally moderate centre-right parties have become more radical.

‘The main problem is that the centre-right is copying the theses of the extreme right. Now the prime minister can say that the election results show that people want more radical right-wing politics,’ she claims.

King’s College London ‘expert’ Georgios Samaras agrees that a similar trend can be seen in many parts of the European Union. But, according to him, the situation in Greece is much worse, as frank National Socialists seek to return to politics.

‘And yes, there is a right turn in Europe, but Greece is something more extreme than Finland, for example, or Spain (VOX), or Germany with the AfD. We are seeing the emergence of something new in European politics,’ he adds.

Perhaps Greece’s case is more extreme, but it’s not the only one leaning to the right. Last year, Brothers of Italy, descended from supporters of Benito Mussolini, became the first Fascist party to win elections in the country since the First World War.

Earlier this month, the anti-migrant True Finns party joined the ruling coalition. And in September 2022, in neighbouring Sweden, the anti-migrant nationalist Swedish Democrats won more than 20% of the vote and became the second-largest party in the country.

 Spain’s far-right Vox party is expected to win significant support in next month’s national elections. In 2019, VOX received 15% of the vote and 52 seats in parliament. According to polls, about 20% of Germans could vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Last year, Marine Le Pen, then head of the National Assembly, was closer than ever to becoming France’s first far-right president. PLEASE SHARE OUR STORIES WITH FRIENDS AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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