The EU thread

[Duque de Bragança]

European right wing parties hate Trump so much that Orban invited Vance to come campaign in person. 

Also, how is a turn away from Trump understood as a turn towards Russia? 

The other way around, a turn away from Trump is also a turn away from Russia.

[Norgy]

Yes, I agree.
The parties are mostly populist and those in opposition can rake in votes on immigration and high living costs, back to the basics of lowered taxes and battling against the "elites".
Russia will still be somewhat relevant, but the pull is less obvious now.

[Sheilbh]

Meloni is turning away from Trump too, because his policy harms Italy and she rightly puts Italian interests first.

Interesting - not seen that so much. And striking as I think FdI and Italian post-fascists are by some distance the most pro-American/Atlanticist bit of the European radical and far right.

Granted, it doesn't seem to say much about Trump/America, but German and Austrian far-right have always been more enamored with Putin.

I think it's true of the French far-right too - and certainly of the anti-American strands of the British far-right (historically best exmplified by Enoch Powell). They're often sovereigntists and have objections to the Atlantic alliance for that reason. But I also think the far and radical right is the part of politics where that "mystical Russian soul" and the romance of the steppes still lingers in some way - Russia as another European-ish, sovereign, nationalist state they can work with v non-European, cosmopolitan, globalising America.

FWIW I disagree with their framing but I'm not sure their analysis is entirely incorrect - I think at a really high level there is basically a choice of an Atlantic or Eurasian Europe (as much as anything else we have to import our fossil fuels from somewhere and the options are the US or Russia).

I also think a big shift this time around is foreign policy. They all fundamentally oppose immigration and I think there has been a tension for a while between wanting to stop immigration and being pro-Trump-ish while Trump's foreign policy is to create infinity instability in the Middle East which will lead to regular refugee crises. I think Russia (and China and even Iran) are more aligned with them on that.

[crazy canuck]

European right wing parties hate Trump so much that Orban invited Vance to come campaign in person. 

Also, how is a turn away from Trump understood as a turn towards Russia? 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy3wwgyd6do

Germany's far-right AfD adopts 'radical' manifesto ahead of key polls

The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party is riding high in the opinion polls in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt and could win an outright majority in regional elections there in September.

It would be the first time a far-right party has held power in a German state since World War Two.

This weekend the AfD officially adopted what has been described as a "radical" and pro-ethnic German government programme for Saxony-Anhalt at a party conference in the central city of Magdeburg.

The AfD's leading candidate in the state, Ulrich Siegmund, a TikTok star who was given a standing ovation by the delegates, said it was an historic moment, not just for Saxony-Anhalt.

"The whole of Germany is watching this historic election," he told the conference.

"Parts of Europe are watching this historic election. Parts of the world are watching this historic election, because from here, finally, the political turnaround can also happen here in Germany."

He said his party had the courage to speak out about what was going wrong in Germany, "that we don't feel safe anymore, that we scarcely feel at home anymore, that we don't recognise our homeland anymore".

"Let's take back our country," he added.

The programme, which is more than 150 pages long, contains wide-ranging plans to overhaul Saxony-Anhalt, clamping down on immigrants and supporting large families of German origin.

It also wants to improve relations with Russia, directly contradicting the policies of the federal coalition government, which is a key supporter of Ukraine.

"We say yes to consistent deportations, we say yes to free childcare facilities, we say yes to remigration," Siegmund said.

Some of the proposals appear to be unworkable at a state level, requiring action by the federal government, but many others are feasible.

Eva von Angern, leader of the left-wing Linke Party parliamentary group in Saxony-Anhalt, earlier described the AfD's plans as a "nightmare scenario for Saxony-Anhalt and for our democracy".

She said the AfD was promoting an authoritarian state that would severely curtail fundamental rights.

Accusing the party of harbouring "inhuman fantasies of omnipotence", von Angern said the public must be made aware of the AfD's "ugly truths" and the "very negative consequences for them personally if the AfD were to govern".

Saxony-Anhalt, like much of the former Communist East Germany, is an AfD stronghold, but the party is doing well all over the country.

It came second in federal elections in Germany last year, winning a record 152 seats in the 630-seat parliament with 20.8% of the vote.

In 2023, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony-Anhalt classified the AfD branch in the state as a "far-right extremist organisation".

Observers say the government programme in Saxony-Anhalt is an indication of what the party intends to do if it gains more power across the country.

The draft manifesto, seen by the BBC, says "a complete U-turn" on migration policy is necessary. It calls for measures to put an end to what it calls "illegal, culturally alien and anti-native mass migration".

These include plans to deport refugees and asylum seekers or to house them in central accommodation.

The draft contains a number of references to the controversial term "remigration" - the mass removal of people with "non-German" backgrounds from the country.

Two years ago, Germans were shocked by revelations that senior AfD figures attended a meeting in Potsdam where remigration or mass deportations were allegedly discussed. But now the term is a central theme of the government programme.

The manifesto specifically calls for the "remigration" or return of Ukrainians to their own country.

"Stop recognising Ukrainians as war refugees!" it says.

The manifesto comes across as distinctly pro-Russian.

"The current anti-Russian policies of the established parties... are not in Germany's interests," it says. It calls for energy sanctions on Russia to be lifted and for schools to teach more Russian.

Central to the AfD's plans are measures to support large families of people who are ethnically German.

Saxony-Anhalt has the oldest population in Germany, and the proportion of older people is increasing.

The AfD says it wants to fight against "the extinction of the German people" by giving tax breaks to large families and providing free childcare.

It espouses a very conservative view of the family, which it says should consist of "a father, a mother and as many children as possible".

The party blames the low birth rate in part on what it calls "sexual deviations and non-reproductive lifestyles". It plans to ban gay pride flags in schools.

The manifesto also says it plans to withdraw funding for public broadcasting in Saxony-Anhalt.

Several hundred people gathered to protest outside the party conference.

Last year the national party was also classified as "right-wing extremist" by the country's domestic intelligence service, a decision criticised by the White House. The party challenged the move and a German court has now issued a temporary injunction stopping the use of the term until it has issued a ruling over it.

Granted, it doesn't seem to say much about Trump/America, but German and Austrian far-right have always been more enamored with Putin.

That's my point exactly.  Sheilbh's claim was that moving away from the United States includes moving towards Russia.  But under this current American administration, moving towards Russia is exactly what the  Trumpists want the Europeans to do.

That's why Vance was campaigning in Hungary for Orban.

People have to stop making analysis assuming the United States is the same as it was 20 years ago.

[Tonitrus]

AfD also seems to be moving towards support of the removal of the US military from Germany:

https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/chrupalla-chef-der-afd-will-us-truppen-aus-deutschland-rauswerfen-69c7b4d804eeb30f4b107d8c

[Sheilbh]

Yeah - and interestingly their language on that is around not interfering in foreign countries (bombing Iran), supporting cheap energy (Iran and Russia) and refugees (for example, far-right parties in Europe were calling for recognition of Assad's regime in order to deport Syrian refugees back to a "safe" country).

[Valmy]

AfD also seems to be moving towards support of the removal of the US military from Germany:

https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/chrupalla-chef-der-afd-will-us-truppen-aus-deutschland-rauswerfen-69c7b4d804eeb30f4b107d8c

Damn. At least they have this going for them. Europe needs to kick us out.

[Solmyr]

AfD also seems to be moving towards support of the removal of the US military from Germany:

https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/chrupalla-chef-der-afd-will-us-truppen-aus-deutschland-rauswerfen-69c7b4d804eeb30f4b107d8c

Damn. At least they have this going for them. Europe needs to kick us out.

They only want it to make the eventual Russian invasion easier.

[Zanza]

The AfD just takes whatever positions they can spin as anti-establishment.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

AfD also seems to be moving towards support of the removal of the US military from Germany:

https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/chrupalla-chef-der-afd-will-us-truppen-aus-deutschland-rauswerfen-69c7b4d804eeb30f4b107d8c

Damn. At least they have this going for them. Europe needs to kick us out.

still think we should offer asylum to the families and soldiers of the US. Form a government in exile and a Free American Army.
Now if we can re-animate De Gaulle...

[crazy canuck]

AfD also seems to be moving towards support of the removal of the US military from Germany:

https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/chrupalla-chef-der-afd-will-us-truppen-aus-deutschland-rauswerfen-69c7b4d804eeb30f4b107d8c

Another thing that is completely consistent with the Trumpist/Russian agenda.