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12/09/2026
Neo-fascism is sweeping Europe – the fight now is for democracy
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| Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief |
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From masked, black-clad agitators causing havoc on the coast of southern England to a huge electoral success for one of Europe’s most extreme rightwing parties, this has been an alarming week for those worried about the rising tide of neo-fascism in Europe.
The results of elections in Saxony-Anhalt last weekend mean that, for the first time since the second world war, a German state is on the brink of electing a far-right government. Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) had been leading the polls for months, but when results came on Sunday the scale of its victory still took many by surprise. Nearly 44% of voters in the eastern state voted for the anti-immigration, pro-Putin party. German chancellor Friedrich Merz described it as a “tectonic convulsion”. The result prompted alarm among mainstream parties across Europe, many of whom, wrote Jon Henley, only have themselves to blame.
Kate Connolly spoke to people in the state capital of Magdeburg, with one young Syrian expressing her fears that her family could be deported if AfD manages to form a government. For Merz, wrote Deborah Cole, the vote is a devastating rebuke, leading many to question how long he can continue as chancellor.
Tomorrow, Sweden goes to the polls, with the prospect of the Sweden Democrats, which has neo-Nazi roots, formally entering government (they currently support, but sit outside, the ruling rightwing coalition). Ashifa Kassam was in Stockholm and Malmö to speak to Muslim activists and others from minority backgrounds who are deeply concerned about the prospect of a far-right party taking power. Swedish politics has already seen a dramatic shift in the last few years, highlighted by recent stories by Lisa O’Carroll of draconian deportations. In a powerful opinion piece, Swedish journalist Martin Gelin wrote that “previously unthinkable far-right ideas are now comfortably embedded in the mainstream of Swedish politics”.
In Britain, a group of far-right anti-immigrant agitators spent last weekend on the streets of Dover and Portsmouth – they even threatened volunteer coastguards for rescuing asylum seekers and bringing them to UK shores. As a Church of England bishop told our community affairs correspondent Chris Osuh, it feels like fascism is on the rise in Britain. In the aftermath, Ben Quinn and Dan Boffey looked at the police response to the protests, and Dan, Ben, Steven Morris and Diane Taylor examined Patriot Platform, the group behind it all.
Cas Mudde was among the experts on the far right trying to make sense of what was happening this week. In this Guardian column, the Dutch political scientist wrote that, across Europe, “far-right parties are going from strength to strength, with old dominant parties decimated, and party systems fragmented” and concluded that “democratic politicians must therefore realise that today’s key fight is for democracy, rather than for party or power”. This was a point echoed by Rafael Behr who warned that although we can “see the abyss”, if liberals can get their act together, “we can pass it without plunging to the bottom”.
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One more thing … It’s a runaway bestseller, but don’t let that put you off: The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans, is a moving and emotionally intelligent novel in which you piece together a 73-year-old’s ordinary, extraordinary life through the letters she writes. Addictive.
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