This week, the prestigious financial magazine Financial Times (FT) compared the three leading European far-right parties – Germany’s AfD, France’s National Coalition, and Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia. FT referred to these parties as “hard-right” due to their common features of strong nationalism, hostility toward immigrants and Islam, and authoritarianism.
One thing that sets these parties apart is their leadership: each is led by a woman. Alice Weidel leads the AfD, Marine Le Pen leads the National Coalition, and Giorgia Meloni leads Fratelli d’Italia and is the Prime Minister of Italy.
While the three parties share many similarities in terms of their views on nationalism, hostility towards minorities, and commitments to traditional values, there are also key differences among them. For example, Fratelli d’Italia’s stance on Russia differs from that of the National Coalition and the AfD. Giorgia Meloni has shifted to a less pro-Russia position while Marine Le Pen has distanced herself from her previous pro-Russian stance. Additionally, while Weidel has indicated support for Germany leaving the euro and the EU, Meloni and Le Pen have softened their criticisms of the EU. Meloni has been particularly critical of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy.
As we approach the upcoming European elections, it will be interesting to see how these parties fare given their different starting positions. Fratelli d’Italia is part of the ECR group while
