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THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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first two regions, it became the third-largest
party, while in Saxony-Anhalt it overtook the
SPD and claimed second place. This means
that AfD is represented in eight of Germa-
ny’s sixteen regional parliaments. These elec-
tions have produced political fragmentation
and polarisation, as a result of which the
formation of an administration in two of
these regions required the participation of
three parties.
– Austria: the Freedom Party (FPÖ) achieved its
best ever result in local elections in Vienna.
– Denmark: the Danish People’s Party become
the country’s second force at the general
elections, with 21.1 % of the vote.
– ����������������������������������������������
Spain: Podemos is the third-largest party fol-
lowing the general election of 20 December,
in which it was competing for the first time.
– France: the National Front won the first
round of the regional elections.
– Finland: the “True Finns” came third with
17.6 % of the vote in the general election in
2015, and entered government as a mem-
ber of the ruling coalition.
– ��������������������������������������������
Greece: Syriza won two general election vic-
tories, increasing its majority in the second
contest, held in September 2015.
– Hungary: the government of Viktor Orbán,
whose migration policies are supported by
the far-right party, Jobbik, has built a fence
to prevent the entrance of refugees and mi-
grants, and has blocked laws to recognise
gay marriage.
– ������� ���� ��������� ����� �������������� ���
Italy: the populist Five Star Movement be-
came the country’s second largest party in
regional elections.
– Poland: the Law and Justice Party (PiS) won
an absolute majority, the country’s first since
the fall of the Berlin Wall, and has taken de-
cisions that have led to the opening of a
commission assessment under the “new EU
framework to strengthen the rule of law”,
which, if this is shown to be threatened in
Poland, could lead to the application of Arti-
cle 7 of the Treaty of Lisbon.
– United Kingdom: UKIP won 12.6 % of the
vote at the general election.
– Slovakia: the People’s Party Our Slovakia
(LSNS), a far-right, anti-European, anti-NATO
party, won 8 % of the vote and entered par-
liament at the last election. In addition, anti-
system formations that represent a protest
vote took 30 % of the total votes cast.
In other words, populist discourse has met
with considerable backing from citizens at the
ballot box in a large number of EU member
states. However, it is important to distinguish
between different types of populism, both in
terms of the nature of these movements and
with regard to the policies they propose and the
effects if these were to be applied.
It seems clear that, in terms of rights and
democracy, it is the populism of the far right
that is of most concern, aimed as it is at the
heart of European values, starting with the prin-
ciple of non-discrimination.
While it is true that the presence of such par-
ties in countries such as Denmark and Finland is
of grave concern, the most drastic attacks on
freedom have been implemented by far-right
parties governing on their own. This is the case
of Hungary and Poland, aggravated in the for-
mer by the fact that the ruling FIDESZ party is
still a member of the European People’s Party,
something that ought to prompt some heart-
searching within this grouping with regard to its
apparent flexibility in admitting certain parties
on the basis that this will leave the EPP better
placed to exercise a moderating influence on
them.
Following the example of Orbán, who mod-
ified Hungary’s constitution, Poland’s Law and