Two far-right European parties, the French National Front and the Dutch Freedom Party, have formed an alliance ahead of the European Parliament elections in May 2014. Any alliance by mainstream conservative parties with such forces will turn out to be a certain guarantee of defeat – moral as well as political.
PARIS – In 2005, two founding members of the European Union, France and the Netherlands, rejected by popular referendum the EU’s proposed constitutional treaty. Two far-right parties from these countries, the French National Front and the Dutch Freedom Party, have now formed an alliance ahead of the European Parliament elections in May 2014. They hope to attract likeminded parties in other EU countries and form a parliamentary bloc powerful enough to slay “the monster of Europe,” as Geert Wilders, the Freedom Party’s leader, calls the EU.
PARIS – In 2005, two founding members of the European Union, France and the Netherlands, rejected by popular referendum the EU’s proposed constitutional treaty. Two far-right parties from these countries, the French National Front and the Dutch Freedom Party, have now formed an alliance ahead of the European Parliament elections in May 2014. They hope to attract likeminded parties in other EU countries and form a parliamentary bloc powerful enough to slay “the monster of Europe,” as Geert Wilders, the Freedom Party’s leader, calls the EU.