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A campaign poster of Geert Wilders, who leads the Party for Freedom (PVV) taken in the Hague, Netherlands
Traditional party failure
Firstly, traditional parties, both on the right and left, have failed to find the right tone and ideas on migration to counter the discourse of fear and closure propagated by the far-right. The right believes that mimicking the far-right will prevent its electorate from gravitating towards it; but in doing so, it opens the way for the views to go mainstream.
The Europe Union was the right place to address the issue.
Meanwhile, part of the left too has begun to seek refuge in the realm of discrimination. In Germany, a left-wing anti-immigration party has even emerged. When the far-right is confronted with the issue, as in Italy, it can't actually formulate a coherent response. The Europe Union was the right place to address the issue, but has not succeeded so far in overcoming national contradictions.
The second lesson is the failure of traditional parties to renew themselves, paving the way for extremes. The share of major parties has significantly diminished, with France and Italy being good examples. The result is the formation of baroque coalitions or unstable experiments. The far-right, on the other hand, lacks a track record — and can argue, as Giorgia Meloni did in Italy last year, that it has not yet been tested.
Rally against ''dictate of European Union'' with, from left to right: Gerolf Annemans, chairman of the Europe of Nations and Freedom EP group, leader of French National Rally Marine Le Pen, leader of Dutch Party for Freedom Geert Wilders and Czech extreme-right Freedom and Direct Democracy head Tomio Okamura
The state of Europe
The third lesson concerns the state of Europe, and it is troubling. We are at a turning point in the world's balance of power, with wars and rivalries multiplying. We may soon see the return in the United States of Donald Trump, who will not be any more generous to the Europeans than during his first term.
The strategic logic would be to strengthen Europe to face this redefinition of global power dynamics. However, the confusion of opinions, the mediocrity of political ambitions, and manipulations of all kinds on social networks have the opposite effect. Nationalists advocate for national solutions when the challenges are of a different magnitude and scale.
We thought Europeans had been inoculated to disintegration after Brexit provided a live suicide playing out in the United Kingdom for everyone to see. Now, seven years later, the Dutch elect a proponent of "Nexit." This sets the tone for the upcoming European elections in June, which is now looking grimmer than ever.
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