The Turkish head of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) expressed concerns on Monday over the rise of far-right parties in Europe, saying he hoped the surge in support for those parties was just a temporary issue stemming from the global financial crisis.
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said racist parties were on the rise across Europe, a trend that was worrying for the Council of Europe. The 47-member organization is working to inhibit the trend by promoting inter-cultural and inter-faith dialogue. “I am hoping that this is limited to the financial crisis in Europe and in the world. Otherwise it might lead to serious complications and problems,” he said.
Throughout much of Europe, parties denouncing multiculturalism and immigration have been gaining support. In liberal Sweden, the far-right Sweden Democrats, a party with a neo-Nazi history, won 20 seats in the Sept. 19 parliamentary vote, which was enough support to leave the leading center-right coalition without a governing majority. In the Netherlands, the country’s new center-right minority government depends on support from anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom.
Çavuşoğlu said despite the rise in the extreme right, other parties are still acting with common sense and supporting Turkey’s accession to the European Union, something to which Wilders is adamantly opposed. In Denmark, Hungary and Switzerland, far-right populist parties have similarly gained support and are advocating anti-immigration platforms that often focus on Muslims and tougher stances on law and order. Their steady rise comes as much of Europe is mired by the recession and the deep cuts in social programs made by governments.
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