По итогам европейских выборов 2019 года. Националисты-популисты: социально-экономический аспект

Abstract

The article attempts to present the problem from a multidisciplinary perspective. It deals with the circumstances of the increasing influence of the extreme right flank of the party-political spectrum in the European Union countries – the instability of the world economy, a number of economic and socio-cultural factors. Among them there is not only the failure of the policies of national left forces (social democrats that have been in power in many EU countries for quite a long time), but also are new supranational factors. The role of the European Commission’s deconstructive policy in the competition sphere in strengthening the positions of nationalist parties in the EU countries is highlighted. Specifics of terminology in definition of various kinds of nationalist forces in the EU are characterized. An analysis of the quantitative results of the 2019 election for nationalist parties demonstrates that the strengthening of their radical extreme right flank in six founding EU member states (Old Europe) is of special importance. The more heterogeneous composition of the European Parliament 2019–2024 compared to the past one is associated with the strengthening of the right-wing nationalist parties’ positions. In the former socialist countries (New Europe), the situation is different: in Hungary and Poland (the two largest of them), the extreme right parties are pushed into the background owing to the unconditional victory of more moderate nationalist parties. Various kinds of right-wing forces are highlighted. The quantitative results of the EP election and the membership of its factions are presented separately for the six founding EU countries and for other member states; the election results are evaluated. Supranational legal rules that weaken the European Union need to be adjusted to reflect the new realities in the global economy and politics. This is one of the European Parliament’s tasks for 2019–2024. Ignoring the emerging new realities creates the basis for the widespread growth of nationalism and the strengthening of nationalist parties’ positions not only in the EP. It is concluded that the nationalist forces do not have a calculated long-term development strategy, which ensures the key role of moderate political forces in European politics.