Europe's far right uses riots to push anti-immigration agenda
After violence hit several European cities last weekend, far-right leaders are blaming liberal governance and open borders and promising to restore order. Italy's prime minister Meloni has issued emergency decrees against violent protesters.
Far-right politicians across Europe are seizing on the violence that swept numerous cities last weekend to attack governments and promise tougher law and order. The unrest began as peaceful protests over the cost of living and worsening public services but was taken over by violent rioters. Key elections in Spain, France and Italy are due in the coming months.
France and Germany
In France, where Paris, Marseille and Lyon saw rioting and looting, the far-right National Rally (RN) accuses the centrist government of incompetence. Party president Jordan Bardella called the government "impotent", while Marine Le Pen said the state was "collapsing" and had "lost control of everything". Le Pen, who leads presidential polls, has avoided explicitly racialising the unrest, blaming "anarchic immigration" instead.
Germany saw no major protests, but the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has warned the rioting could spill across the border. Co-leader Alice Weidel called France's events a "warning for Germany" and tied them to migration.
Other countries
In Portugal, André Ventura of the Chega party urged the country not to import instability. In Spain, where the housing crisis has driven mass protests and led prime minister Pedro Sánchez to call a snap election next month, Vox leader Santiago Abascal described protesters as "Sánchez's militias". In Belgium, Vlaams Belang called the clashes in Brussels and Liège "imported violence".
Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who has led a far-right government for four years, cannot simply blame state failure, so she has expanded her law-and-order agenda. After riots in Milan and Bologna she passed emergency decrees creating an offence of violent participation in demonstrations and penalising parents whose children take part in vandalism. She also noted that nearly half of those stopped or arrested in Milan were of immigrant background.
Éric Zemmour, founder of France's Reconquête! party, demanded an immigration halt. US president Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance have also used the French unrest as a cautionary tale for voters ahead of the US midterm elections.
