While the significant increase in votes for far-right parties in the European Parliament (EP) elections in many countries has caused concern among centres and the left, it is noteworthy that the situation was different in the Nordic countries.
The far-right made its mark in the 27-nation EU elections held from 6-9 June. In Germany, the AfD came in second to the ruling Social Democrats, while in France the far-right National Rally (RN) came in first by a large margin, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call early elections.
In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) became the largest party by winning six seats, while the far-right also made great strides in the Netherlands.
While far-right parties have gained seats in the EP, the decline of left-wing parties is particularly notable.
Finland’s Left Alliance candidate, 37-year-old Li Andersson, has become the politician with the most individual votes in the European elections.
Three countries where the left is on the rise
The countries where the left emerged were the Nordic countries of Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
The British newspaper The Guardian wrote that the election results in the three countries gave hope to the left in the face of the rise of the right in Europe. The article pointed out that right-wing parties lost votes in the EP elections in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, while support for the Green Party and the Left Movement increased.
In Finland, the ruling Conservative Party came in first, but to everyone’s surprise, the left-wing coalition won three seats. In Denmark, the Greens and Social Democrats took the top two places, but Sweden’s right-wing parties suffered a major blow.
Marlene Wind, director of the European Policy Centre at the University of Copenhagen, said right-wing parties have been in power for some time in northern Europe and “their support declines while they’re in power”.
Jonas Sjöstedt, a member of Sweden’s Left Party, where right-wing parties have suffered a major blow, described the result as a “ray of hope for Europe”.
