Radical Right Violence in Europe
By Leonard Weinberg
Special Analysis for the National Security Forum
In recent years, police and security agencies in Europe have been preoccupied with major terrorist attacks planned or carried out by jihadists, ones either launched from abroad or by homegrown radicals. The list of major attacks would have to include the March 2004 bombings of Madrid-bound commuter trains; the July 2005 suicide attacks on the London Underground; and, more recently (2015), the assassination of the entire Paris-based editorial board of the satirical weekly magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
Recent attacks emanating from the Middle East and South Asia were preceded in the 1970s and ‘80s by a long list of plane skyjackings, acts of piracy (the Achille Lauro affair), kidnappings and assassinations carried out by Palestinian groups (e.g. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Abu Nidal organization, Black September). They were typically directed against American, along with Israeli and Israeli sympathetic targets, either real or fanciful.
We should also note that in both cases, Jihadist and Palestinian, European authorities were able to thwart many terrorist plots and schemes before they could be brought to fruition. These successes were largely the result of enhanced intelligence cooperation among the states involved (e.g. through Europol) and through the American role in providing assistance to the affected states.
Time to Direct Attention to the Threat from the Right
These states have been so concerned with Jihadist terrorist plans for disrupting European public life they have often neglected to pay close attention to violence emanating from the extreme or Radical Right. Let’s clarify our terms. When we refer to the extreme or radical Right what do we mean in the context of European politics?
Scholars who have focused on the subject identify the extreme Right with a number of core values. These values include nationalism (anti-globalization), ‘exclusionism’ (opposition to racial, ethnic and religious pluralism, anti-Semitism), xenophobia (generalized hostility to foreigners), and a perceived need for a ‘strong state’ which strictly maintains ‘law and order’ and supports a powerful military establishment. [1] Some writers include the concept of ‘welfare state chauvinism’, the view that such public benefits as social security should be restricted to a country’s native population and denied to immigrants and the ‘undeserving’ poor.
Those holding these views belong to a ‘family’ of political parties and smaller groups, some of which choose to contest elections from time to time, while others do not. We should not forget that the new social media have helped to give rise to ‘lone wolves’, individuals radicalized via various websites plus Twitter and Facebook. (It is worth noting in this regard that radical right websites in the U.S., e.g. Storm Front, often host European sites. The First Amendment provides protection for these sites, protections not enjoyed by European states with stricter legal restrictions.)
Both Western and Eastern Europe abound with what many analysts now label as Radical Right-Wing Populist parties. [2] Such parties now exist in virtually every European country west of the Urals. From Norway and Denmark to Greece and Romania these now contest national elections, based on most of the principles listed above, plus populism: “They are populist in their unscrupulous use and instrumentalization of diffuse public sentiments of anxiety and disenchantment and their appeal to the common man and his allegedly superior common sense.” [3]
There is some East/West regional variation in these parties’ attitudes towards the state. In general the radical right parties of Western Europe stress the benefits of market-place capitalism, while those in the East (typically emanating from inter-war Fascist traditions) retain their commitment to the ‘strong state’. Hungary’s current ruler, Viktor Orban, would serve as a case in point.
Then there is the matter of violence. In terms of performance at the polls in Western Europe radical right populist parties whose activities exclude violence typically do better at the polls than those whose youth groups develop reputations for violent anti-foreigner forays. For instance, the French National Front, under the leadership of Francine Le Pen, has done well in recent elections after she went out of her way to disavow violence pursued by some party activists. About the same may be said about the Italian National Alliance and Northern League and the Austrian Freedom Party. On the other hand, some parties in the West, notably Greece’s New Dawn Party and the German National Democrats, have been involved in attacks on immigrants and refugees and have suffered accordingly. (We should bear in mind that unlike the U.S. the law authorizes European courts to dissolve political parties judges decide are operating outside the law.)
Since the end of communist rule in Eastern Europe, the situation has become rather different. In such countries as Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, radical right parties have done well at the polls despite their involvement in para-military violence. The targets of this violence also differ from their Western counterparts. Roma or Gypsies are often the victims of attacks. And given the history of Eastern Europe’s old inter-ethnic animosities, e.g. Serbs vs. Kosovars, have often given radical right parties opportunities to win votes by demonstrating just how belligerent they can be in restricting the rights of ethnic minorities even when, in some instances (e.g. Latvia), the minority is Russian. [4]
Para-military youth groups on both sides of the old ‘iron curtain’ presently engage in violent attacks on newcomers to Europe. In some instances those attacks have involved terrorism. A few years ago in Germany the National Socialist Underground, a small clandestine group, went on a killing spree, murdering about a dozen Turkish residents suspected of involvement in the drug trade. In addition to terrorism there are a number of radical right groups that engage in what might best be described as street-corner brawling, typically against Muslim populations. English Defense League activists stage demonstrations in London and elsewhere aimed at preventing the city from being transformed into “Londonistan”.
We should also remember the skinhead phenomenon. The shrinking but highly violent skinhead movement, which originated in the UK, now transcends borders with groups active in Western and Eastern Europe, as well as Russia and the United States. Oftentimes skinhead groups consist of bands of young men out looking for action. They frequently find it on their way to and from soccer stadiums and rock concerts. Or, they may satisfy their need for action by attacking Pakistani or North African immigrants.
As in the United States so too in Europe the ‘lone wolf’ appears to be playing a growing role in radical right violence. The most lethal and widely publicized of these attacks was the 2011 attack carried out by Anders Breivik, a Norwegian loner who killed 77 members of a Social Democratic youth group on a small island near Oslo. Breivik’s murders were committed because, so he said, the party was too lenient in permitting Muslims to take up residence in Norway. Breivik claimed he was simply protecting Christian civilization against those bent on destroying it.
Looking Ahead: Does Increased Migration of Muslims Portend More Violence?
If the presence of millions of Muslims from the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa has been sufficient to set-off this type of violent backlash, what should we expect in the future? Western Europe is presently (September 2015) being inundated by millions of Muslim immigrants and refugees fleeing brutal fighting in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. If the type of radical right-wing violence described above has been enough to set-off the types of anti-Muslim violence, what will the future hold? If the past is any guide in this regard, sadly we should expect even more serious episodes of violence in the years to come.
[1] For a discussion see, for example, Cas Mudde, Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007) pp. 11-31
[2] For one of the early observers see especially Hans –Georg Betz, Radical Right-Wing Populism (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994)
[3] P. 4
[4] For a general discussion see Sabrina Ramet (ed.), The Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe (University Park Pa: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999)
Dr. Leonard Weinberg is Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada, UNR, and a senior fellow at the University of Haifa (Israel). A recognized expert and author of several books on global terrorism, Dr. Weinberg is the recipient of the Thornton Peace Prize for his work in promoting Christian-Jewish reconciliation.