“Newspaper reported”Washington Post“, after discussions about extremism throughout Europe revolved around Islamic extremism and terrorism, the discussion has recently turned towards far-right ideologies that are spreading and gaining continuous momentum.
The American newspaper considered that this issue is more clear in Germany, where calls are increasing to ban the second most popular political party in the country, the far-right Alternative for Germany, while the government seeks to cut off the sources of funding for far-right networks.
In Britain, the government plans to publish a new list of groups it considers “extremist,” coinciding with efforts to prevent extremists from meeting with lawmakers or receiving public funds.
‘Biggest threat’
The Washington Post considered that, after years of work to confront Islamic extremism, the major fears and threats are no longer related to extremists planting bombs and carrying out violent attacks, but rather to the spread of undemocratic ideologies throughout society.
Policy expert at King’s College London, Rod Dacombe, noted that in Britain, more people with far-right views are referred to government anti-extremism programs than people with extremist Islamic ideologies.
In Germany, where the dark pages of history over right-wing movements cast a shadow over politics and society, efforts to protect democracy have focused, in recent months, on the growth of far-right extremism in the country, which the Interior Ministry now considers the biggest threat facing society.
In February, the government announced a 13-point plan to “use all the tools of the rule of law to protect our democracy.” The proposals include new laws to make it easier to freeze bank accounts, as well as cutting off sources of financing for extremists.
The country’s domestic intelligence services placed the Alternative for Germany party under surveillance, after classifying it as a “suspected case of far-right extremism.”
The party, which is ahead in opinion polls over the three parties that make up the ruling coalition, appealed this classification to the judiciary.
If evidence collected by intelligence services leads to a finding that the party is “certainly extremist”, this could lead to enhanced efforts to ban it – a risky process that could take several years, according to the newspaper.
The German constitution allows for the banning of parties that “seek to undermine or abolish the free democratic basic order,” but the obstacles to doing so are very high.
The country’s Constitutional Court has only resorted to bans twice – with the Socialist Reich Party, the successor to the Nazi Party, in 1952, and with the German Communist Party in 1956.
Germany.. The popularity of the most powerful far-right parties is rising due to the “dystopia” of immigrants
The city of Gorlitz, which is one of the most important tourist destinations in eastern Germany, witnessed the largest demonstrations against immigrants, the likes of which the country has not seen in several years, after the largest far-right party succeeded in frightening its residents from the refugee “dystopia.”
Calls to completely ban the AfD have increased in recent weeks after revelations in January that a group of senior party members had met with right-wing extremists to discuss a plan to forcibly deport migrants.
The report sparked a nationwide uproar, with hundreds of thousands of people participating in demonstrations, described as “for democracy, against the right.”
Earlier this month, German regional broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk also reported that more than 100 people working for AfD lawmakers belong to organizations classified as far-right.
“Sharp shift to the right”
In recent years, many European countries have witnessed a rise in support for far-right parties, and analysts expect a sharp shift to the right in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June, in which 400 million people in the European Union can vote.
Joseph Downing, a security expert at the London School of Economics, said voters across Europe increasingly feel unrepresented by the main parties, a feeling that groups such as the AfD or the National Front in France are “exploiting the situation”.
He said extreme political views were becoming more popular partly because of growing inequality and eroding living standards, adding: “People look at economic structures and say: ‘Something’s not working here. Why can’t people in their 40s buy a house?'”
In the coming weeks in Britain, a number of groups are expected to be classified as “extremist” under the government’s new definition of extremism that focuses on ideology, compared to the 2011 definition, which focused more on violence.
The government said that it initiated this change due to the escalation of incidents of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.
Michael Gove, a Conservative politician who heads the administration that issued the new rules, said five groups were being assessed, including three with an “Islamic orientation” and two promoting “neo-Nazi ideology”.
Downing said the government’s new definition of extremism – “promoting or supporting an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance” – would mean that more groups would be considered extremist. However, critics fear the new rules will undermine freedom of expression and sow division in communities.
In a related context, analysts warn that describing groups as “extremist” could actually help them flourish, as they can then portray themselves as persecuted by the regime, which may strengthen their cause.
Oliver Dekker, from the University of Leipzig, warned that repressive means alone are not sufficient to address extremist threats to democracy.
“Labeling a party as a suspected extremist” or banning it entirely is simply pulling the emergency brake, Decker said. “The question is: What do we do after we call something ‘extremism’?” “What is most important in the political and public sphere is to deal with the content and causes of this growing threat to democracy.”
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