Support for far-right parties in Europe continued to grow in 2024 amid voter concerns over immigration, inflation and the war in Ukraine.
Far-right parties gained nearly a quarter of votes from across the bloc in June’s European Union parliamentary elections, although centrist parties continue to hold the balance of power at the EU institutions in Brussels.
In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally Party won the highest share of French votes in the EU parliament election, with 31%.
French President Emmanuel Macron — whose Renaissance Party won 15% of the vote — made the shock decision to dissolve parliament and call a general election.
National Rally saw a path to government for the first time.
“We are ready to be in power if the French people give us their support in the forthcoming legislative elections,” Le Pen told supporters. “We are ready to turn the country around, ready to defend the interests of the French people, ready to put an end to mass immigration.”
Left and centrist parties, however, formed an alliance to block National Rally from power.
Macron appointed a new government under Prime Minister Michel Barnier, but France was plunged into turmoil again in early December after National Rally withdrew its support for government, forcing a no-confidence vote and prompting Barnier’s resignation.
Macron is struggling to appoint a new prime minister amid calls for his resignation.
Meanwhile, Le Pen faces troubles of her own, as an ongoing corruption trial could derail her political ambitions. A verdict is due in March.
German elections
In Germany, Europe’s biggest economic power, the far-right Alternative for Germany Party finished second in the EU parliament elections, putting the Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz in third place.
Scholz appealed to voters to reject the right-wing party.
“We have to worry about the vote for right-wing populist parties here and in other European countries. We must never get used to this, and it must always be our mission to push them back,” Scholz said in the wake of the results.
His call went unheeded. In September, Alternative for Germany won a state election for the first time in Thuringia and came a close second in Saxony.
Immigration
Concerns over immigration were central to the far right’s success, said Guntram Wolff, senior fellow at the Bruegel economic think tank in Brussels.
“How do you respond to that dissatisfaction that relates to migration? I mean, perhaps also the topic of inflation and increases in prices in the last years play a role. But I think the migration topic really is sort of at the center of the dissatisfaction,” Wolff said.
Germany’s three-party ruling coalition under Scholz collapsed in November. The country is due to hold a general election in February.
Aid to Ukraine
Alternative for Germany, which is currently polling in second place behind the center-right Christian Democrats, is campaigning on a platform of slashing immigration and ending military support for Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders. Germany is Kyiv’s second-biggest donor, after the United States.
“We want peace in Ukraine. We don't want any weapons deliveries. We don't want any tanks. We don't want any missiles,” AfD leader Alice Weidel said at a press conference on December 7.
In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party topped the vote in September’s election with more than 28%. However, all other parties ruled out forming a coalition with it, so the party has been excluded from power.
In 2025, analysts say, all eyes will be on the political turbulence in France and Germany as Europe prepares for the return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency in January.
