(CN) — In Germany, a far-right political party is rising in the polls and breaking with taboos about the country's Nazi past. In Italy, the interior minister speaks from a balcony of a provincial city where Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini once exhorted his followers. Street demonstrations become shouting matches. The social media sphere is filled with vitriol, jeering, profanity.
All this is reminiscent of the dark 1920s and '30s in Europe and describes this season of political toxicity as Europeans head to elections between May 23 and 26 to choose representatives for the European Parliament, the world's only transnational parliament that is directly elected.
An ugly atmosphere tinged with hatred and anger hangs over Europe, and much of this toxicity is caused by the growing strength of far-right political parties. These parties and their candidates are raising their tones and rhetoric in a bid to win votes in an election where they are poised to make significant gains. Polls suggest a quarter of the European Parliament's seats may go to far-right parties.
It's a Europe that many fear resembles the turbulent years before World War II — a period of economic troubles, angry public discourse and clashing political factions that saw the rise of Fascist dictators, in Germany, Italy and Spain.
“The situation is dangerous today in Europe. Fascism is making a comeback, but not wearing the same clothes, the same appearance as it did in the 1930s,” said Philippe Marlière, a European politics professor at University College London, in a telephone interview with Courthouse News. “It is a kind of 21st-century fascist.”
Italy's Matteo Salvini — the 46-year-old interior minister and leader of the far-right League party — has become one face of this new nationalist politics.
He has a vision of the world that many on the far right share. He talks about a Europe under siege from Muslim immigrants, many of whom are fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. He characterizes himself as fighting an ideological war against a left-wing movement that seeks to undermine traditional Italian society. He'd like Italy to reinstate obligatory military service for young people and return to mandatory school uniforms. He's in favor of expanding the right to use weapons in self-defense. And He advocates a flat tax and takes pro-business positions.
Relentlessly, Salvini has been campaigning across Italy in the run-up to the European elections, all the while stirring up controversy. As his critics and the press castigate his far-right views and label him a fascist, Salvini increasingly appears to brazenly court, and mock, comparisons between Mussolini and himself.
In Forlì, on a rainy night in early May, Salvini stood with a loudspeaker on a balcony overlooking the small city's main square. It was the same balcony that Mussolini stood on to hold political rallies and watch the hanging of anti-fascist partisans from lamp posts. Below in the square, supporters and protesters gathered. His supporters cheered and his opponents chanted: “We're all anti-fascists.”
Two days later, Salvini was in the southern Italian city of Avellino and tensions broke out between his supporters and counter-protesters. In one incident, a Salvini supporter was seen shouting and lunging at a woman critical of Salvini.
On his Twitter feed, Salvini, who's adopted an “Italians First” slogan, feeds a growing appetite for xenophobia and nationalism. It's become routine: He shows videos of black people caught in public arguing with train conductors and police officers, sometimes violently. His tweets elicit a torrent of outrage, with many Salvini fans calling for all African immigrants to be expelled from Italy.
Salvini has become a key figure in the rise of Europe's far right. He is banding together with other nationalist figures, such as France's Marine Le Pen and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in an effort to create a substantial far-right bloc in the European Parliament.
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