The rise of the far right in Europe

Far-right politician Joerg Haider, whose Freedom Party polled 27 percent of the vote in the October 1999 Austrian election

Few people outside Austria had heard of Joerg Haider before 1999

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The leader of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), who in the early 1990s praised Hitler's "orderly" employment policies and described members of the Waffen SS as deserving of "honour and respect," was dismissed as an extremist with limited significance beyond his own country.

In the October 1999 national elections, however, the FPO polled 27 percent of the popular vote, sending shockwaves not just through his native Austria, but the whole of Europe.

The party formed one half of a coalition government with the conservative People's Party, holding eight of 16 cabinet seats, including the defence, finance and justice portfolios, and the vice-chancellorship. Although Haider himself has resigned as party leader, his influence continues to loom large.

Move to the right

The reaction of Austria's EU partners to Haider's electoral success was swift. As soon as it became clear the FPO would be entering government all 14 states imposed unilateral diplomatic sanctions against the country.

The result was a marked cooling of relations between Austria and the rest of the EU, with Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel announcing that unless sanctions were lifted he would call a referendum seeking public support for the use of "all suitable means" to end them.

While the sanctions were eventually lifted, other EU states remain determined to send as strong a message as possible to the European far right.

Their concern is that Haider's rise will prompt a surge in support for other extreme parties -- the so-called Haider effect -- and that unless checked swiftly and forcefully that extremism could prove a serious threat to the stability of the Union.

"Support for far-right parties is on the increase," says Robert Purkiss of the Vienna-based European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.

"A distinct far-right agenda has emerged across Europe and there is increased evidence that this is dragging the centre of politics to the right. You can see it in the way intolerant language has entered the mainstream of political debate."

A public rally by Italy's far-right National Alliance

The Haider message -- nationalistic, anti-EU, anti-immigration -- is certainly echoed by extreme right-wing parties in other European countries. The Front National in France, the Vlaams Block in Belgium, The National Alliance in Italy, The Danish People's Party, The British National Party, The Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden Democrats) -- all share the rhetoric of nationalism and resentment towards immigrants. Mistrust of the EU is a universal theme, as is pessimism about the economic and social effects of the Union's eastward expansion.

"They play on people's fears," says Purkiss. "They claim the expansion of the EU will unleash a flood of economic migrants causing massive job losses and a collapse in the standard of living, even though every indicator we have suggests the EU actually needs more workers. They're very good at distorting the true picture."

Their message would appear to have struck a chord. While no other far- right organisation has enjoyed anything like the electoral success of Haider's FPO, many of them are experiencing an increase in popular support.

In Norway -- not a member of the EU -- the anti-immigration Party of Progress gained 15 percent of the vote in the 1997 general election, while The Danish People's Party scored 16 percent in a recent opinion poll.

The Deutsche Volksunion enjoys a 25 percent approval rating among young voters in Saxony-Anhalt, the Vlaams Block holds 18 of the 56 seats on Antwerp City Council, the National Alliance's leader Gianfranco Fini was, in a 1998 poll, voted the most popular politician in Italy.

In Switzerland -- a country which is not in the EU -- the staunchly nationalistic Swiss People's Party captured 22.8 percent of the vote in the October 1999 election, more than any other party.

Recent gains

More recently, the far-right has made gains both in France and the UK -- most notably Jean-Marie Le Pen's second-place finish in first-round voting in the 2002 French presidential election.

Although ultimately defeated in the second-round runoff by incumbent conservative Jacques Chirac, Le Pen's showing -- which eliminated Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin from the race -- sent shockwaves across Europe.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder and leader of France's far-right Front National

It was followed in the Netherlands by a second-place general election finish by the new Pim Fortuyn List party, whose maverick right-wing, anti-immigration founder Pim Fortuyn was assassinated a week before the vote.

Spring 2002 elections also saw gains by the right-wing extremist British National Party, which won three borough council seats in Burnley, a northern English city scarred by race rioting and targeted by the right-wingers in the election campaign.