OPINION: The Co-opting of the European Far-Right

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is expected to return as chancellor after forming a government. (Flickr)

In the wake of the collapse of its ruling coalition between the Christian-democratic Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), Austria held a snap election on September 29. The result was a resounding victory for the ÖVP, as it picked up 37.1 percent of the vote, its best result since 2002, according to the Guardian. The FPÖ, on the other hand, saw its vote share fall to 16.1 percent, a ten percentage point drop.

The coalition-ending Ibiza scandal, which exposed the leader of the FPÖ for allegedly providing government contracts in exchange for campaign contributions, no doubt contributed to the success of the ÖVP. The FPÖ also saw its reputation suffer further as new allegations of embezzlement of party funds surfaced days before the election, DW reports.

At the same time, the ÖVP under the leadership of the former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz actively co-opted the FPÖ’s platform by adopting its anti-immigration rhetoric, shifting the party to the right. This strategy has seemingly paid off as an analysis by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation showed that the FPÖ lost 258,000 voters to the ÖVP.

Similar patterns of center-right parties co-opting the policy platforms of far-right parties are playing out across Europe. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in 2017 warned immigrants to “act normal or go away” in the run-up to a general election where he faced off a challenge from the far-right Party for Freedom, according to the Washington Post. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, of the Conservative Party, has effectively co-opted the Brexit Party’s platform, expelling moderate members when they objected to his leadership.

In other European countries, the presence of far-right parties in government is becoming increasingly normalized. Aside from the Austrian case, Italy’s previous governing coalition included the far-right Lega Nord, while in Norway the far-right Progress Party remains in the governing coalition.

As the far-right becomes a permanent fixture in European politics, mainstream conservatives have seemingly made their choice to embrace them.