Home U.K. Anti-Nazi
Freedom Party. The staunchly anti-immigrant party of rightist Joerg Haider joined Austria's coalition government in 2000, prompting the European Union to hit the alpine nation with seven months of punishing sanctions. Although support has eroded from 27 percent to 16 percent, the party remains part of the ruling coalition, and Haider frequently has been criticized for statements perceived as anti-foreigner or anti-Semitic.
British National Party. The anti-immigrant party is accused of triggering riots between white and South Asian youths in several northern England towns last summer. The BNP has disturbing ties with the Conservative Party, although the Conservatives constanntly try to distance themselves from such comparisons. BNP leader Nick Griffin's father was on (Tory leader) Iain Duncan Smith's campaign staff. Although the BNP is small and perceived as marginal, the governing Labor Party warned leaders not to underestimate the impact of the BNP's 68 candidates in the May 2nd 2002 local elections in England. Read Nick Griffin's insane manifesto here. The United Kingdom Independence Party are a group of ultraconservatives who abandoned the Conservative Party due to its stance on Europe. They are rabidly anti-europe and anti-immigration and the BNP has recently decided not to contest seats against the UKIP, stating that "the BNP and UKIP share much common policy ground".
Vlaams Blok (Flemish Bloc). The far-right party, which favors independence for Flanders, Belgium's Dutch-speaking northern half, remains a force in national and local politics. It advocates a stop to immigration and the expulsion of immigrants who fail to assimilate into Belgian culture. Vlaams Blok holds about 15.5 percent of seats in the Flemish parliament and is the biggest party in Antwerp, the nation's second-largest city.
Progress Party and People's Party. The Progress Party was founded in 1972 by rightist Mogens Glistrup, who has raised eyebrows Ñ and concerns Ñ by calling for all Muslims to be expelled from Denmark. In 1995, the People's Party broke from Glistrup and is now the country's main rightist party, though it is seen as far more moderate than the Progress Party and holds 22 seats in the 179-member parliament. The People's Party is not in the government.
Front Nationale (National Front). The party of extreme nationalist and French presidential hopeful Jean-Marie Le Pen, who finished second in Sunday's primary with 16.86 percent of the vote, advocates France for the French first. Immigrants are a favorite target and are blamed for French ills such as high unemployment and violent crime. Le Pen founded the party in 1972 but didn't make a splash in French politics until 1984.
National Democratic Party. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government and the parliament have been trying to ban the far-right party, contending it foments skinhead violence and espouses neo-Nazi ideology. Although the party is electorally insignificant, the government wants to outlaw it to keep it off the airwaves and away from state campaign funds. The effort is a response to a wave of hate crimes against foreigners and Jews in 2000 that drew international concern.
National Alliance and Northern League. A member of the coalition government of Italy's conservative president, media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, the National Alliance finished third with 12 percent in last year's national elections. The party is a direct descendent of Mussolini's Fascist party and counts among its members his granddaughter, Alessandra Mussolini. Also in the governing coalition is the Northern League, headed by far-rightist Umberto Bossi, whose anti-immigrant sentiment has earned him comparisons to Austria's Joerg Haider. The League has advocated secession for Italy's affluent north, and Bossi recently urged lawmakers to rush through legislation to deport jobless immigrants.
Leefbaar Nederland (Livable Netherlands). The fledgling right-wing party founded by openly gay former columnist Pim Fortuyn stunned the Netherlands in March when it won 35 percent of the vote for city council seats in Rotterdam, the second-largest city. Fortuyn advocated a ban on immigration and notoriously criticized Islam as a "backward culture." Fortuyn was assassinated recently outside a TV studio where he was giving an interview. The assassin was a white male with extreme environmentalist views. There was an instant public outpouring of grief and a Diana-esque wave of sickening sentimentalism over the death of a man who was, essentially, a neo-nazi. Leefbaar Nederland played on this public sympathy and took a disproportionate share of the vote in the general election. It seems that the media-savvy Fortuyn has made Nazi views respectable in the traditionally liberal Netherlands.
Party of Progress. The party known for its anti-immigration views won 25 seats in the 165-seat parliament in last September's elections, no change from its showing in the 1997 vote. Although it is right-wing by Norwegian standards, even its critics are reluctant to compare it with far-right parties in Austria or France because it doesn't embrace neo-Nazi or extremist views. Even so, its leader, Carl I. Hagen, called Le Pen's strong showing in the 2002 presidential elections an understandable response to France's "all-too-soft immigration policy."