The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #163332 Message #3898135
Posted By: Keith A of Hertford
08-Jan-18 - 01:44 PM
Thread Name: BS: blue passports - political smokescreen?
Subject: RE: BS: blue passports - political smokescreen?
Below is a review of the outgoing year. January: Far-Right Leaders Meet in Germany Leaders of Europe?s far right, including Marine Le Pen of France?s National Front and Geert Wilders of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), convened in Germany?s Koblenz on January 21 under the auspices of Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) ?the smallest political group in the European Parliament. At least 3,000 protested against xenophobia as the meeting took place. Speakers hailed the election of US President Donald Trump and Britain?s Brexit vote as victories for their cause. Le Pen told attendees: ?In 2016, the Anglo-Saxon world woke up ? In 2017, I am sure that it will be the year of the continental peoples rising up,? she said.
March: Far Right Boost in Hungary, the Netherlands In Hungary, Janos Ader was reelected as president on March 13. He is a member of the ruling conservative Fidesz party, which has shifted further right, in part due to a campaign against billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros, whose Open Society Foundations (OSF) charity advocates for greater acceptance of refugees and migrants. In the Netherlands, the March 15 general election saw Geert Wilders? PVV party win the second-largest share of votes with more than 13% overall and a five-seat gain on the 2012 election. Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, held on to his role.
May: Le Pen Eyes French Presidency France?s National Front leader Marine Le Pen made it to the second and final round of the French general election on May 7. The party took more than 10 million votes ?a record performance? but Emmanuel Macron won with 66%.
September: Alternative for Germany Surges Germany?s Alternative for Germany (AfD), which promised to ban all mosques and criminalize wearing the veil, emerged as the country?s third biggest political force, winning 12.6% of the popular vote on
September 24. Angela Merkel?s center-right Christian Democratic Union party secured 33%, down almost 9%from the 2013 ballot. ?Had Merkel scored 3 or 4% more we would all be talking about the end of populism and the new energy of liberal democracy,? Mudde said.
October: Gains in Austria Austria?s Freedom Party (FPO), led by Heinz-Christian Strache, won 26% of the vote, becoming the third largest party, in the country?s October 15 election. It entered government in December, forming a coalition with 31-year-old Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his Austrian People?s Party. Both parties campaigned for tougher immigration rules and the deportation of asylum seekers.