Far-right and Greens show their muscle
Europe is more unsettled today than it has been in decades
Now that the formerly smug centre-left and centre-right European Parliament parties have experienced the political equivalent of being mugged by gangs in a quiet cobbled street, the question is: what will they do next?Populist far-right parties, such as Italy’s Lega, led by interior minister Matteo Salvini, and French arch right-winger Marine le Pen’s National Rally, crow from the rooftops about their considerable gains.But support also surged for far-left parties, the Greens especially, driven by voters frightened of an environmental apocalypse.To put that in perspective, the Greens will have about the same power in the 751-seat assembly as the far-right populists.The Greens, backed by liberal MEPs, are likely to be crucial in helping pro-EU majorities to pass legislation.On the other side of the road, the ascent of the far right has awakened terrors of more skinheads, more neo-Nazis, more anti-immigrant behaviour, more Islamophobia, more book burnings ...However, the far-right p...
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