Hijacking Europe: Counter‐European Strategies and Radical Right Mainstreaming during the Humanitarian Crisis Debate 2015–16*

Abstract

Radical right European contestation is analyzed mainly as claims denouncing European integration. Less focus is put on narratives suggesting how a supposed 'truly European' political process should be and work. This paper explores how radical right actors use such counter-European claims within their competition strategies. Computer-assisted qualitative analysis of communication by Front National, Alternative for Germany and Fidesz during the humanitarian crisis debate 2015-16 demonstrates that radical right counter-Europeanism constitutes a nuanced tactical resource deployed to normalize nativist supply in the name of Europe. Unlike Eurorejectionist FN, Fidesz and AfD redefined Europe in nativist terms, attempting to draw legitimacy from association with European identity and cooperation. Concurrently, both actors justified Euronativism not only as antithetical to current EU values and political principles, but mainly as their more fundamental practice juxtaposed against 'not (truly) European elites', effectively 'hijacking' Europe from within. The findings deepen our understanding of radical right Europe-contesting competition strategies.

Beyond populism: The diversity of thin anti-establishment contestation in turbulent times

“…In the former case, this trend unfolds especially around the 2015 humanitarian crisis. This is in line with recent case study insights (Pytlas, 2021). By early 2016, parallel to demarcative policy shifts of some conventional parties linked to competence appeals, several radical right actors themselves justified nativist stances not only as what the people want, but also as indispensable to efficaciously ‘manage’ migration, guarantee a tougher hand against constructed cultural threat, as well as end supposed chaos by ‘decisive’ politics.…”

“…Extra-political expertise might nonetheless be relevant to justify or contest policy between elections (Bertsou and Caramani, 2020). In general, the impact of thin supply (including populism), detrimental when linked to anti-pluralist thick ideas, unfolds also beyond electoral contexts (Art, 2020; Pytlas, 2021). Furthermore, we were specific in testing whether using particular thin contestation messages as auxiliary mobilization tools matter for AEPs’ electoral performance ceteris paribus , rather than suggesting that they alone explain electoral rise.…”

The AfD within the AfD: Radical Right Intra-Party Competition and Ideational Change

“…Since its founding in 2013, the party has experienced three major conflicts in which its fundamentalist, extreme right grouping Der Flügel (the Wing) gained increased influence in the party, while still lacking ‘hard’ formal power in the party board or delegate congress (Decker 2018). The AfD's attempts to portray itself as a ‘normal’ party were thus accompanied by the growing impact of its extreme right faction and progressive substantive radicalization further to the right (Arzheimer and Berning 2019; Häusler and Roeser 2022; Pytlas 2021). Flügel has managed to keep and increase its influence even despite its nominal ‘dissolution’ in 2020 after the informal grouping was put under observation by the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz – BfV).…”

Understanding Right-Wing Populism and What to Do about It

“…Others have instead focused on how RWPPs have varying willingness and ability to capitalise on the grievances of certain parts of their electorate (Koopmans and Statham 1999;Mudde 2010;Halikiopoulou et al 2013;Vasilopoulou et al 2014). There has also been recent debate about whether RWPPs are more or less successful when their political competitors accommodate and/or internalise some of their positions (Spoon and Kluver 2020;Pytlas 2021). RWPP success in turn can affect the policy or rhetorical positions of other more established political parties (Abou-Chadi and Krause 2020; Bergmann et al 2021;Puleo 2021;Valentim and Widmann 2021).…”