Why the far right is heading towards victory – The Filopoulos case

The normalization of the far right in Europe, with EU tolerance, was pointed out at BIMA by Giorgos Samaras, associate professor of public policy at King's College, and a principal researcher at its Policy Institute, with a research specialization in far-reaching affairs. Expressing his fear of “the possibility of his forces' victory” in the upcoming European elections.

“There will be A large rally around the Greek solution, and perhaps we will see percentages that we have never seen before in Greece in an extreme right-wing party, between 15-17%.“, predicts for the Kyriakos Filopoulos party. It is something he did to verify research on behalf of the ETERON research center in partnership with the Policy Institute at King's College, to decipher “the anti-feminist trend in Greek youth from Generation Z (18-25 years)”.

The research will document whether the popularity of the Greek solution “actually comes from older generations or if new generations are turning to these far-right solutions, due to anti-feminist trends. We will explain, in other words, whether issues of gender, sexuality and sexuality push young people to vote.” To the benefit of far-right parties in Greece, a country where already one party, the Nikkei, is reporting negative results first. It raises public debate, in a contentious way, the question of what women are and are not. This is a new phenomenon that is having an impact on voters. How much is Something we'll find out very soon.”

How exactly, Mr. Samaras, do you document the normalization of the far right, with the European Union tolerating it, as you say? Also who is to blame for watching one “castle” fall after another in Holland, Finland, etc.? And perhaps in the upcoming presidential elections in France as well? Is there a share of responsibility on the ruling democratic political spectrum parties?

There are government measures across Europe that appear to be heading towards extreme measures. What the European elite does not realize is that this extreme right-wing discourse and practices automatically direct large sectors of voters towards the extreme right. Law of supply and demand. But if center-right parties adopt such rhetoric but remain unable to implement corresponding legislative plans, especially regarding immigration, they frustrate voters and tend toward extreme solutions.

It is as if you are describing the reasons that highlighted the case of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in particular as the second power in the country, with a steadily rising trajectory.

Immigration was the issue that greatly broadened the reaction of the general electorate to German politics and punished Merkel and the CDU. After their overthrow and the formation of a coalition government by the Social Democrats of the SPD, the 90-Greens coalition and the FDP, under the leadership of Olaf Schulz, we see that people in Germany are hungry for something more radical and extreme. Hence the large gathering in the far-right Alternative for Germany party. The easy solutions promoted and promised by far-right parties are very popular.

We also saw this in the Netherlands with a prime minister who even without a party was able to form a government because he spoke publicly about deporting the Muslim population. This is despite the fact that it cannot be implemented as a measure, because it infringes on human rights. So the world has reached a point where it now resorts to the most simplistic solutions, believing that they are workable. We are at a crossroads. The electorate is shifting from the conservative center-right to the right, to the extreme right. We'll have to see where all this ultimately leads.

As a concrete example of the normalization of the far right, what example do you cite? Georgia Meloni first?

Shocking examples are Meloni and Orban, who despite the sanctions they faced, the EU did not give in. It continues to support its authoritarian and far-right practices, which far exceed the levels of democratic violations we have become accustomed to in recent years. This fact in itself indicates not only normalization, but also the immediate acceptance of undermining democracy within the union itself. There's no one to stop Meloni…

All this leads us to the conclusion that we are on the verge of establishing the far right. On the one hand, because such movements from Italy to Germany and Spain have managed to establish themselves in politics, and on the other hand, because the European Union itself, especially in the last five years, has activated the state of normalization of far-right discourse. By centre-right parties.

We also see examples of attempts to normalize far-right practices on the part of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is comfortably discussing the possibility of cooperation with the AfD. In the summer, CDU leader Friedrich Merz explicitly stated that it would not be unreasonable for the two parties to cooperate at least at the local level. These are unheard of phenomena in post-World War II Germany. It is now under discussion. What has changed? The degree of conservatism in German society. They seem to be testing the waters, but in German public opinion this has a completely different effect.

Le Pen's meteoric rise is also a reality of proportions not even her father has yet attained. Behind these phenomena, we notice a European center-right that adopts undemocratic practices that are not compatible with social democracy. In France, Macron's practice of making changes to pension legislation by executive order distorts tolerance levels in democratic institutions. In Greece, repatriation of refugees and violations of private life (wiretapping) are seen as indirect support for the far right.

Who are today's authoritarian and totalitarian leaders?

Tyranny and tyranny exist in non-democratic systems as well as in democratic systems. The dangerous thing is that they are present in democracies that are deteriorating, as is the case in Hungary under Orbán, because of the way democratic institutions are managed, the media, freedoms and homophobia, which show the extent to which any country is able to settle the rights of its citizens. These practices give the signal to other democratic countries to try to adopt an Orban-style approach as well. We have also seen this to some extent in southern Europe.

What do you mean;

We have witnessed the erosion of the rule of law and democratic institutions. It's not taboo to say that. If we're talking about prevailing authoritarian tendencies, Putin and China represent a more extreme authoritarian approach than we are accustomed to. With greater powers, control and centralization thanks to technology. In the era of artificial intelligence, we are expected to see more pronounced characteristics of authoritarianism, due to greater control over technology and its capabilities. So the question is what standards does modern democracy want to set as it embraces technological weapons? This is what we will answer in the coming decades. But it's definitely something very worrying.

*Mr. Giorgos Samaras will participate in the 9th Delphi Economic Forum scheduled to be held from April 10 to 13 in Delphi.