11 January 2016

Europe's Push to the Right

Journeyman Pictures has released a couple more short documentaries on Right-wing parties in Europe that warrant viewing.

Sweden's SD while still a long way from holding power is clearly on the rise. The Moderate Party (M) held power for eight years and was only toppled in 2014. While the Moderate Party doesn't quite qualify as being Far Right, it is often characterised as Right-wing due to its economic and defense policies. The party had established a strong relationship with the United States and moved toward NATO (of which Sweden is not a member). The Moderate Party involved Sweden in the Libya affair (regime change) which was highly out of character for the usually 'neutral' Sweden and signaled a shift in their politics.
It's probably not a coincidence that the Moderate Party which was actually quite friendly with the Bush administration opened the investigation regarding Julian Assange and put out the request for extradition.
In Germany, the Right-wing movement Pegida continues to rise and should be noted. While there are also huge anti-Pegida protests and marches taking place, current events seem to favour the growth of Pegida and like organisations.
The New Year's Eve events across Germany, the harassment and assaults on women will likely give these groups a huge boost and may even take the debate and social tensions to a new level. It's probably too soon to fully grasp the scope and import of what happened that night, but for the Right this may be a turning point. The media's hesitation in reporting these events and the apprehension of some public officials in outright pursuing and addressing these events has engendered suspicion and hostility.
Europe is becoming a powder keg.
They won't be dancing to the Merkel song after this.