One of the most eye-catching headlines in recent months appeared in Bari Weiss’ store. free press: “How Abortion Became ‘Defunding the Republican Police’”. At the height of Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. in 2020, “Defund the Police” came to symbolize the excesses of an activist class out of touch with the general public and black lives that seem to matter only as props. Specific political goals – goals that tend to tarnish the Democratic Party’s image to the average voter. like Olivia Rheingold In her article, she explains that the American Republican Party is now being dragged down a similar path of taking an electorally dangerous position on abortion.
If we transpose the image of the center and its periphery into a European context, we could say that social and religious conservatism is to the populist right, and immigration is to the left. This is at least the conclusion we can draw from political scientists. Olivier Roydeep and extensive analysis of great continent, “The Great Recentring” in which Roy outlines the new parameters of European political centrism. Reviewing the various wins and losses of European populists in recent years, Roy notes that socially conservative parties such as Spain’s Vox (against same-sex marriage and abortion) or Poland’s PiS have tended to do much worse. Their fate would be better than that of social liberals like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands or even Marine Le Pen in France.
Roy said, “The populism that wins is liberal populism (…). Marine Le Pen clearly understood this when she defined French identity: secularism (Secularism) was used instead of Christianity in her 2017 presidential campaign platform. She does not question the rights of abortion or same-sex marriage. So while Marion Maréchal failed to take off, she rose in the polls. Geert Wilders, the winner of the December 2023 Dutch elections, has a decisive and progressive stance on issues of social customs.”
Meanwhile, Denmark is an outlier on the left as the populist right continues to gain ground ahead of the 2024 European elections. In Denmark, Mette Frederiksen’s left-wing government is known for its unusually tough (by European standards) approach to immigration and immigration issues. asylum. “It is becoming increasingly clear to me that the price of unregulated globalization, mass immigration and free movement of labor is being paid by the lower classes.” tutelar Frederiksen was quoted as saying shortly before inflicting a decisive defeat on Denmark’s right-wing government in 2019. For Roy, the Danish government represents the new center of European politics. Roy wrote: “The most typical example of this change can be found in Denmark. The Social Democratic Party there implemented the most restrictive policies of exclusion and forced assimilation in all of Europe, all in the name of social democracy. Models and Liberal Values.” Roy also includes France’s Emmanuel Macron in these changes. “In France, the moment they approve the most restrictive immigration laws, they enshrine abortion in their constitution.”
It is worth recalling about Macron and the political centre. Didier Fascin‘S London Book Review In a 2019 article, Fassin argues that Macron (an “extreme centrist”) is actually a kind of populist. . But Chantal Mouffe, a Belgian political theorist who advocates left-wing populism, argues persuasively that it implies a vertical form of power and requires charismatic leaders. “With his rejection of traditional political elites (right and left) and his desire for a direct relationship with the people, Macron is undoubtedly a populist.”
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Another outlier on the European left, and a politician who agrees with Mette Frederiksen’s analysis of mass migration, is Germany’s Sahra Wagenknecht. Julia KaiserHe writes for British media focusing on EU politics and policy. Parliamentpoints out that it is ironic that the AfD’s main electoral threat, as well as the effort to ban them outright, comes from politicians ostensibly on the opposite side of the political spectrum. Talking to Kaiser, director of the German electoral analysis institute Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, points out the electoral overlap between the AfD and the BSW of the Wagenknecht. “If we look at the supporter groups, we see that the biggest potential lies in the AfD’s support base. AfD supporters are considering voting for BSW.” Fabio De Masi, BSW’s leading candidate in the upcoming EU elections, has spoken publicly about the party’s attempts to exploit the frustration of AfD voters. “We want to make a serious offer to those who vote for the AfD out of frustration and anger. “They feel this is the most visible way to express their protest.”
However, for a number of reasons, Wagenknecht does not belong to the new European centers outlined by Olivier Roy. These reasons include her perceived Euroscepticism and her opposition to providing military aid to Ukraine. Frederiksen, like Donald Tusk, recently elected in Poland, may have broken with the progressive or left-wing consensus on immigration, but they are staunchly pro-NATO and pro-Ukraine and have little Eurosceptic bone in their bones. People will never imagine EU Observer While they publish articles declaring that someone like Wagenknecht should be the next EU Council President, it is hardly surprising to see them also publishing articles arguing that Mette Frederiksen should take on the role.
European Research Institute Hugo Blwett-Mundy Frederiksen is the ideal candidate to replace Charles Michel when his term ends in the near future, he wrote, and it was Frederiksen’s outspoken stance on Russia that won him the role. Denmark is “the second largest bilateral donor to Kiev (after Estonia) in proportion to gross domestic product” (…). Despite the economic fallout from the war, Denmark contributed 60.4 billion kroner (81 million won) to the Ukrainian National Fund. Blewett-Mundy also highlights Frederiksen’s talent for consensus-building, saying that in June 2022, the Danish government It was a “courageous decision for a traditionally Eurosceptic country” to overturn its withdrawal from the EU defense policy.
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