The far Right in Europe is of two minds and two camps

The European extreme right is divided into the pro-European and the nationalist camp, points out Italian newspaper "Corriere Della Serra". One is pro-NATO, the other resembles a Kremlin satellite, while it is also attracted to Donald Trump.

Giorgia Meloni and the "Brothers of Italy" lead the pro-European and pro-Ukrainian line. Matteo Salvini's Lega in Italy, Marine Lepen and Rallye Nationale in France, as well as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) have so far followed a path that, for many, pleases the Kremlin in Russia and Trump in the USA.

Meloni's problem and opportunity

Meloni, who emerges visibly strengthened from the battle of the European elections, faces this conflict, between the two "lines", and within her own government, the Italian publication underlines. The result of the European elections highlighted the safety distance it keeps from Salvini's populist party, which, in addition to being Meloni's government partner, expresses the other line in the Italian far-right. The late Berlusconi's Forza Italia, the third government partner, passed Salvini in the election and Meloni widened the gap between the two.

The fact that Italy's two most populist forces and the most critical of NATO, the Lega and the M5S (5-Star Movement), were thrashed in the June 9 ballot gives breathing space to Meloni's "line".

However, Meloni is now watching developments in France with the snap election Emmanuel Macron called following the triumph of Marine Le Pen's "National Rally" while changing the political landscape in Europe. Lepen in France is both an opportunity and a problem for Meloni and her majority, as is the rise of the AfD in Germany, the Italian publication points out.

Salvini is likely to stick to that right-wing unity that he has invoked in recent weeks, especially with the rise of the populist right in Europe, but as Corriere Della Sera points out, the attitude towards Russia and Putin, so the Ukrainian issue also poses obstacles for the coveted unity. And Meloni can insist on the pro-European attitude that has made her the "regulator" of European affairs, as the negotiations begin for the selection of the leadership of the European institutions. However, things remain fluid after the European elections and the upheavals they brought to the European political scene.

Lepen and the Italian example

In France and Marine Lepen's "National Rally", things are a bit more complicated. Lepen, in the course of her party's emergence as the leading political force of her country, appears with more and more moderate characteristics, reminding, one might say, the steps followed by Meloni to conquer power in Italy.

French President Emmanuel Macron, humiliated by his defeat to Marine Lepen in the European elections, is gambling on his government, his credibility and his legacy. By calling early parliamentary elections, he reckons the French will "wake up" to what Lepen really stands for as tensions rise with Putin's Russia.

Bloomberg, in an analysis, points out that it is difficult to understand what Lepen and her party stand for after years of abandoning its most extreme positions to broaden its appeal. She no longer wants to leave the EU after the chaos of Brexit, yet she wants French exceptions to EU law. She no longer wants to leave the Schengen area, but she wants "double borders" for France and the EU that would include systematic checks. She no longer supports retirement at 60, but neither does he support the Macron law increase to 64.

"Across Europe, national parties are rising not to destroy the European Union, but to build a European alliance of nations capable of tackling the industrial, environmental, immigration and technological challenges of the 21st century," Lepen told party supporters before the election. "Throughout France and throughout Europe, we are winning the battle," said the French politician who has previously been accused of suspicious contacts and alleged funding from Russian interests.

In France, Lepen is considered a far-right leader with pro-Russian sympathies. During the pre-election period, Macron emerged as a leading supporter of Ukraine in Europe with statements about sending French troops forces in Ukraine, allowing Kiev to strike targets inside Russia and defining the war as an existential one for the EU.

The clash over their opposing views on the war could become a central issue in the nationals between Lepen and Macron next month, and it remains to be seen whether the French far-right will ultimately follow Italy's lead.

AfD, Putin's best friend in Europe

Finally, the extreme right - and as many describe neo-Nazi - AfD has a more obvious pro-Russian and anti-NATO direction.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 15% of the vote in the June 9, 2024 European elections, despite the party being embroiled in scandals and investigations as its aides in the European Parliament are being accused of Russian espionage. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling party suffered a humiliating defeat in the European elections with just 13.9%, putting it in third place, behind the AfD.

Moreover, for several months, pollsters have placed the AfD ahead for the first time in three regional elections scheduled for next September, in Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia. As the French journalist Ludovic Piedtenu points out, the majority of voters are preparing to vote for the only party that offers to rebuild a bridge to the Kremlin. Admiring Putin's method and the rewriting of history he is doing in Russia, the AfD, using the same means, is leading its supporters and voters back to nostalgia for a "proud Germany".

The AfD's program for the European elections not only advocates the "normalization of relations with Russia and the lifting of sanctions", but also a series of measures in favor of Vladimir Putin. In its 11 years of existence and three European elections, the AfD has shifted from a pro-Atlantic position to a pro-Russian and anti-NATO stance hostile to the United States, he notes.

Leaning on Russia and denouncing American power, whose "decisions will drag Germany into conflict", the AfD intends to defend itself, according to its usual domestic policy issues (strengthening borders, fighting immigration and crime etc.).

But Europe is now following the pre-election period in the USA, and so is the European extreme right. The eyes are also on the other side of the Atlantic as a victory of Donald Trump can dramatically change the political landscape in Europe as well.