Europe’s young voters are increasingly turning to far-right parties, driven by frustration with mainstream politics, democratic disenchantment and an appeal to alternative policies.
upporters of the European far right are looking more youthful lately. In a noticeable shift, Generation Greta has made way for the Bande de Bardella — as in Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old president of France’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN).
Whether it’s in the European Union’s second-biggest member or smaller ones, young voters appear more receptive to right-wing messaging.
France is a particularly noteworthy case. RN, which has worked to distance itself from its fascist roots, has made inroads into ideological territory traditionally held by the left — staking a claim to defending worker rights, pensions and quality of life for average citizens. Those young enough to have long and uncertain careers ahead of them have responded in kind.
Ahead of last year’s European elections, more than 30% of Gen Z voters expressed their intention to vote for RN. The party was able to capitalise on the generation’s backing during snap national elections later that summer, winning 32% of the18-to-25-year-old vote in the first round.
That marked a doubling of support from this age group compared to the 2022 presidential election.
The shift may have something to do with disillusionment. A study in France suggested that 31% of under-35s believe there are better systems of governance than democracy. That is a higher percentage than respondents in other age groups. Barely half of under-35s agreed that voting is an effective way to express dissatisfaction.
“If you feel that your life is not getting better and your family and friends’ lives are not getting better, then it’s normal you might start questioning the system that is producing those results,” Omran Shroufi, a far-right researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, told The Parliament.
Beyond France
Far-right parties are surging across Europe. In many cases, it’s older generations keeping them from becoming even more powerful.
In Austria, the far-right and Russian-friendlier Freedom Party (FPÖ) is on the cusp of taking power, after coalition talks led by the centre-right party collapsed. The negotiations stem from September’s election, when the FPÖ took home 27% of the under-34 vote, up seven percentage points from 2019.
It’s a similar scene in neighbouring Germany. In three state-level elections last year, one-in-three Germans under the age of 34 voted for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which German authorities classify partly as an extremist group. In Belgian local elections in October, 22% of Gen-Z Flemish voters supported the Flemish Nationalist Party (VB).
Gender among the young also plays a role, with more men than women shifting to the right in many of these elections.
This has all happened in span of a single European election cycle — in 2019, younger voters turned out in large numbers for Green parties — but a lot has happened in a short amount of time.
Read the full piece on The Parliament here.
Between the Lynes 