The Independent (UK): Gypsy-haters, holocaust-deniers, xenophobes, homophobes, anti-semites: the EU's new political force

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

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The Independent (UK):  Gypsy-haters, holocaust-deniers, xenophobes, 
homophobes, anti-semites: the EU's new political force

By Stephen Castle in Strasbourg
Published: 16 January 2007

Europe's far-right, xenophobic and extremist parties crossed a new 
threshold yesterday, winning more speaking time, money, and political 
influence in the European Parliament than ever before.
Claiming the backing of 23 million Europeans, ultra-nationalists 
secured enough MEPs to make a formal political grouping, underlining 
the growing challenge posed by the far right across the continent. 
For the first time since the Second World War a series of elections 
has swept nationalistic, far-right parties into office in municipal, 
regional, national and European parliament elections. The admission 
of Romania and Bulgaria in January of this year brought in enough 
far-right MEPs to form a bloc.

Mainstream politicians have been struggling for years to contain the 
threat from hardline nationalists and extremists who have entered 
coalitions or supported ruling governments in countries such as 
Austria, Denmark, Poland and Slovakia.

Amid formal protests and jeers in the Strasbourg Parliament, 20 MEPs 
yesterday signed up to the new formation called Identity, Tradition, 
Sovereignty (ITS). As a formal group, they are entitled to up to ¤1m 
in central funding. It is led by Bruno Gollnisch of France's National 
Front, who is awaiting a court verdict on charges of Holocaust denial.

Made up of ultra-nationalists the group includes one Bulgarian 
parliamentarian, Dimitar Stoyanov, who yesterday attacked the "Jewish 
establishment" and accused Roma parents of selling 12-year-olds into 
prostitution.

Even the ringtone of Mr Stoyanov's phone points to his hardline 
politics. It features a former Bulgarian national anthem which, he 
says, "tells of the atrocities of the Turkish army in the second 
Balkan war, how the rivers were flowing with blood and the widows 
weeping, and urges people to fight for Bulgaria".

A previous far-right grouping in the European Parliament faltered in 
the 1980s and rival MEPs predict that ITS will have a limited impact 
on the Strasbourg assembly.

Martin Schulz, leader of the socialist group which is the 
second-largest in the Parliament, appealed to other MEPs to unite to 
prevent ITS from securing senior positions in Strasbourg. He said: 
"We must not abandon this Parliament, which symbolises the 
integration of Europe, to those who deny all European values."

The new political group was established despite efforts by socialist 
MEPs to block its formation. One British MEP, Ashley Mote, has joined 
the group. A former Ukip member, Mr Mote was suspended from that 
party in 2004 when he faced prosecution for housing benefit fraud and 
has since sat as an independent.

Prominent members of the far-right alliance include Jean-Marie Le 
Pen, veteran member of the French National Front, who shocked Europe 
by reaching the second stage of the last French presidential 
elections, Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, 
Frank Vanhecke, leader of Belgium's separatist Flemish nationalist 
party, Vlaams Belang, and Andreas Mölzer, a former aide to the 
Austrian far-right leader, Jörg Haider.

Under the Parliament's rules a formal grouping requires 20 MEPs from 
at least six countries. That requirement was reached only after 
Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU this month.
As MEPs converged on Strasbourg, Mr Stoyanov, who at 23 is the 
Parliament's youngest member, claimed the ITS had crossed a threshold 
of power. "We will be able to table amendments," said Mr Stoyanov. 
"We will have longer speaking time in the plenary sessions and, 
eventually, we will win chairman, or deputy chairman, positions on 
committees." Mr Stoyanov, of Bulgaria's Ataka party, denied being 
anti-Semitic but said he opposed the " Jewish establishment" which 
used ordinary Jewish people "like pawns" .

In the parliamentary chamber Mr Gollnisch claimed that the new group 
" will speak on behalf of 23 million Europeans who would not be 
represented without us".
He added: "We will be the Parliament's conscience. We will be 
vigilant defenders of the peoples and nations of Europe who want our 
continent and civilisation to be great."


The sweep of extremism in expanded Europe / Romania
Party: Partidul Romania Mare (Greater Romania)
Leader: Corneliu Vadim Tudor
No. of MEPs: 5
Has five ITS members, all from racist, homophobic Greater Romania 
party, a, nationalist organisation that voted against joining the EU. 
Among other things, the party despises ethnic Hungarians, Jews and 
Romas.

United Kingdom
Party: N/A (Independent)
No. of MEPs: 1
British membership of ITS is limited to South East England's 
independent MEP Ashley Mote. Mr Mote first entered European politics 
with UKIP but was ejected in 2004 after being tried for benefit fraud.

Austria
Party: Austrian Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs)
Leader: Heinz-Christian Strache
No. of MEPs: One
The Austrian Freedom Party, which Jorg Haider made a household name 
is still winning votes even after his departure. The FP promises 
stronger anti-immigration laws, stricter law enforcement and more 
funds for families.

Italy
Party: Alternativa Sociale, Fiamme Tricolore
Leaders: Alessandra Mussolini and Luca Romagnoli respectively
No. of MEPs: 2
MEPs Alessandra Mussolini, and Luca Romagnoli are both remnants of 
the Fascist party that ruled Italy for two decades. Mussolini, 
grand-daughter of Il Duce, is a former glamour model. Neither enjoy 
mainstream support.

A long-cherished ambition, and a step further than before

Yesterday's developments are the culmination of a long-cherished 
ambition by Europe's far-right parties to form a recognised bloc in 
the European Parliament. They have had self-declared groups before, 
notably when Jean-Marie Le Pen of France's National Front led an 
alliance called the European Right in Strasbourg in 1984-89, followed 
by the Technical Group of the European Right in 1989-94. On the 
ground and away from the parliament, the far right has prospered in 
several countries since the mid-Eighties. In Austria, Jörg Haider 
emerged in 1986 as leader of the Freedom Party. The Swiss People's 
Party, led by Christoph Blocher, became Switzerland's 
second-strongest political force in 1999. In Denmark, the ultra-right 
Danish People's Party swept into parliament as the country's 
third-largest party following the 2001 elections. In Italy, the 
xenophobic Northern League entered a right-wing coalition in the same 
year. In Belgium, far-right Flemish separatists have gained support 
throughout the decade, and the Netherlands was convulsed by the rise 
of the populist anti-immigration campaigner, Pim Fortuyn.