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Guardian: Greece, the only country in Europe with a leftist populist government

Populist parties have tripled their electoral base over the past twenty years and are now trusted by one in four Europeans, the Guardian says in a survey of 31 countries ahead of the European elections, in collaboration with 30 political scientists.

Evidence suggests that populism has been on the rise since 1998, when only 7% of citizens voted against antisystemic forces. “Not so long ago populism was a phenomenon of the political fringes,” said Matthijs Rooduijn, a political sociologist at the University of Amsterdam, who led the research project. “Today it has become increasingly mainstream: some of the most significant recent political developments like the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump cannot be understood without taking into account the rise of populism," says t Rooduijn.

According to the British newspaper, the survey reveals "It reveals the different fortunes of rightwing populists such Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Italy’s Matteo Salvini, who have had the most success in recent years, and leftwing populist parties, which rapidly expanded in the aftermath of the financial crisis but failed to secure a seat in government anywhere other than Greece."

Since the beginning of the 21st century, populists have begun to pass their messages from the Netherlands to France, Hungary and Poland. "

"Since then, anti-establishment populism has snowballed, particularly after the 2008 financial crash and the 2015 refugee crisis in Europe. The anti-austerity Syriza took 27% of the vote then 36% in successive Greek elections; Ukip propelled Britain to its Brexit vote and Marine Le Pen became the second member of her family to reach a presidential run-off in France, winning 33% of the vote." the article notes.

At the same time, research shows that "The research shows that leftwing populists, which in Europe are far less successful than their conservative counterparts, have begun increasing their share of the vote in national elections, giving rise to challenger parties such as Podemos in Spain and La France Insoumise."

It is noted that "in countries such as Spain, Italy and Greece, populism is not an exclusive phenomenon of the far-right. This may also be due to the fact that the economic crisis has hit those countries worse. Therefore the appropriate conditions for a left-wing populist message were created there. Parties like Podemos in Spain and SYRIZA in Greece combine their populism with an extreme left-sovereign ideology.