| Too often we speak about the surge of ‘the far-right’ in Europe but we forget this is neither new nor too surprising. The reality is, the far-right is joining the mainstream as we speak. Looking at the polls ahead of Sunday, it is clear the far right will make significant gains, as the two political groups in the European Parliament that host far-right parties could secure about 20% of the seats, more than ever before. It is indeed a nearly four-fold increase since the early 1990s. Over the past few years, a number of EU member states have significantly veered to the political fringes, with left or progressive parties being pushed out by conservative to far-right ones, with one notable exception of Spain. Next to the Eastern European countries being ruled by right-wing parties, in four of the six founding EU member states, these parties currently lead in the polls. And Marine Le Pen is largely expected to win the French presidential elections in 2027. Younger voters are increasingly backing anti-immigration and anti-establishment parties in numbers equal to and even exceeding older voters, according to recent analyses of young people’s political preferences. But if you look at the public debate and media coverage of the ‘far-right threat’ in the 2019 European elections, you might notice one thing: It feels a bit like ‘Groundhog Day’. Five years ago, the European polls were marked by what everyone called the ‘surge of the far-right’, with several Western European countries having to face the new political reality, like Belgium, which experienced its second ‘Black Sunday’ after 1991. Although far-right parties fell short of reaching one-third of all MEPs they had wished for, some key figures had the last laugh. | 