By Matteo Albania, Communication strategist, EU political analyst and social media consultant
No, the centre didn’t hold, and the “cordon sanitaire” is the only thing that is extremely far, far stretched.
In 2009, the European Parliament could count on a strong EPP-Socialist coalition, with the two groups sharing 450 seats. Far-right groups ECR and EFD tallied together just 84 seats. Fast forward to 2024, the two main parties have lost ground, and are seeking for more coalition partners. During the last 15 years, the world has changed and Europe has been challenged: the debt crisis, Syria’s refugees crisis, migration, Brexit, a pandemic and an ongoing war.
No, the centre didn’t hold its ground. This rhetoric is confuted by today’s numbers. The newly formed political group “Patriots for Europe” is the third largest, followed closely by ECR. Together, they amass more than 160 MEPs, doubling their numbers compared to 2009. These two groups have much more in common than EPP, Socialists, Alde and Greens together. The political centre in Europe has shifted to the right, like it or not.
The solution to oppose the rise of far-right parties can’t just be stretching further and farther the so-called cordon sanitaire. What we are witnessing in Europe is a desperate attempt to play with citizens’ fears. Fear for far-right forces, fear of gloomy times ahead, shamelessly using the same technique that those forces are accused to have based their political fortunes on. Thus, traditional parties, rather than focusing on policies and messaging, keep stretching coalitions borders to include parties that have little or nothing in common.
It is clear that citizens are asking for a change in power, they are not asking for “business as usual” or witnessing patchwork coalitions that are glued together by nothing more than a common enemy. Traditional political forces in Europe are in denial of their decline, deaf to the voice of citizens, and blind to election results. The centre in Europe doesn’t hold, it’s gasping for air.
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