Far-right populists top polls in Germany, France and Britain for the first time
Alternative for Germany has joined France's National Rally and Reform U.K. in becoming the most popular party in its country, according to polls.
cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/post/145931
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Do Russia and China's investments in Europe's far-right pay back?
A study on extreme political parties in the European Parliament (from April 2024) by the Association for International Affairs (AMO) the European far-right downplays the significance of China’s human rights violations (opens pdf). Far-right parties also mostly echo Beijing’s rhetoric on sovereignty, supporting China’s territorial claims in regions like Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan, and Tibet.
For example, both Germany’s far-right AfD and France’s Rassemblement National argue that decoupling from China or imposing economic sanctions harms European economies, advocating instead for stronger economic cooperation with Beijing, and they often oppose EU sanctions on Russia, trying to undermine European support for Ukraine.
The European far-right's view of China and Russia as some sort of "counterbalance to U.S. alignment" and criticizing Europe for its historically close relationship with the U.S. is something we also read here on Lemmy very often (although it is clear that the U.S.' recent abandonment of democratic principles doesn't make China and Russia better partners).
thank you but we can manage ourselves.
you don’t give a fuck about the rising tide of fascism in Europe. Again you just want to push your anti China agenda. And you don’t even try to make it relevant to the topic at hand anymore.
@bungalowtill@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Why so uneasy?
Just last week, for example, a far-right lawmaker's former aide of Germany's populist party AfD has gone on trial in the city of Dresden over accusations of spying for China.
This week, Germany's far-right AfD called for ending aid payments to Ukrainians in Germany, playing directly into Russia's hands.
And these are just two examples.
If you really want to understand and intend to do something against the rise of fascism in Europe, you must not view it as a process that happens isolated within European borders, because foreign interference particularly by Russia and China is evident - not to forget that there is not so much difference.
[Edit typo.]
Why so uneasy?
Because I’ve been watching the shift of public discourse in Europe over the last decades and it didn’t need the involvement of foreign adversaries to get to where we’re at right now. Conservatives, centrists, neoliberal social democrats dismantled the welfare state and privatised public assets of every single country in the West and then started blaming foreigners for failing institutions and destroying social cohesion.
And that’s pretty much what you do.
Instead of acknowledging that we have manoeuvred ourselves into a pretty dire situation, you come along and perpetuate that sentiment that we are somehow manipulated by foreign actors. In the end you justify those xenophobic feelings we’ve been fed by our local actors, too.
Nah, your denial of the obvious hurts the goal of fighting fascism. You completely ignore all other arguments and just repeat your own.
Foreign bad-faith, authoritarian actors are using -sometimes legitimate- critique of Western democracies - but not to improve the situation, but rather to worsen it and promote their own cause. You are echoing their totalitarian narratives. When China's foreign minister declares that China will not allow Russia to be defeated in its war in Ukraine, as he has done a few weeks ago, then he directly threatens European security once again. There is strong evidence.
This is not about 'blaming foreigners' but a brutal reality. We need more democracy, not less. More equity, not less.
But I have good news for you: if you really think Russia and China is so much better, why not move there? It's up to you.
so much bad faith dude
suggesting to move to China or Russia? Because I really think they are so much better? You’re just pulling this out of your ass and you know it. I am criticising my home because it’s turning fascist and you’re suggesting I move to China, fuck you.
And because we’re talking fighting fascism: what’s your plan? I’ve never seen you fight fascist narratives here, you only keep on gesturing towards the outside threat. Are you gonna go there and fight European fascism over there, or how does it work? Wouldn’t it be easier to fight those narratives here (no matter where they are coming from), so people don’t fall for it in the first place?