Is the far-right gaining ground in Europe?

The savagery of far-right riots in London for more than a week has horrified the entire world. For days, hundreds of agitators have attacked people, stores, cars and public spaces, primarily migrants and people of color, as well as emergency shelters for asylum seekers and mosques.

The majority of these protests have degenerated into clashes with police across England and Northern Ireland, prompting newly appointed Prime Minister Keir Starmer to demand a strong response. After describing riots as "intolerable pure violence," he promised to deploy a "standing army" of specially trained police personnel to combat extremism while also protecting mosques and Muslim communities.

Starmer also stated his desire to see rioters brought to justice as soon as possible, emphasizing that, on the one hand, "criminal law applies both online and offline," and on the other that everyone of them "would regret taking part in this disorder."

Misinformation has been blamed for the sharp rise of xenophobia-triggered violence across Europe, with so-called "populist" politicians and media outlets disseminating their beliefs and being accused of railing against migration for years.

Indeed, the narrative around migration, particularly illegal migration, in Europe has reached previously unheard-of levels of anger and violence, making it increasingly unmanageable.

However, perhaps due to the inherent difficulty of distancing oneself from something that affects people directly and closely, politicians, public opinion and the media in several European countries appear to have developed the habit of justifying every problem they face with two very specific and simplistic explanatory phenomena: disinformation and the progressive growth of far-right consensus.

Given its basic nature, this counter narrative, which we could call "counter-populism," eliminates the possibility of identifying the true roots of certain problems and, consequently, exploring potential solutions. What is even more troublesome and disturbing is that this approach makes it difficult to reveal and reflect on past mistakes made by the same parties who now criticize the far-right "degeneration" that is engulfing Europe.

Far-right parties now govern Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. Sweden's administration is surviving thanks to the support of a far-right party. France has been forced to create an impossible and, most likely, lame-duck coalition between Emmanuel Macron's parties and the left in order to prevent far-right leader Marine Le Pen from taking advantage of the country's widespread 30 percent voting preferences. In Germany, however, a radical movement competes with the Social Democrats for voter support. In this environment, why is no one addressing the most fundamental question: Why are European countries realigning with far-right values?

The media first and foremost sought simplistic explanations, including finger-pointing disinformation campaigns and social media posts suggesting easy and extreme solutions to complicated problems. To gain support in a society that no longer knows who to turn to for help, the counter-populist narrative has gone further, accusing X of circulating dangerous and unverified content before condemning "the omnipresent TikTok," which is portrayed as the source of all problems simply because it is associated with China.

However, stepping back from such an implausible study reveals two macroscopic issues. In terms of information reliability, if Europe's media, both print and virtual, were more regulated, it would be far easier to prevent every single individual, particularly those who hold the most extreme views, from disseminating their beliefs online. In the name of much-vaunted free expression, nothing can be entirely regulated. Rules do exist in Europe, but their enforcement is limited. It is easier to blame China for global disinformation campaigns than to propose reforming a system when its limitations become apparent.

Even the attractiveness of far-right narratives is not an ideological choice, but rather the inevitable result of the parties in power in Europe failing to present genuine tactics and solutions in recent years.

Back to immigration. European cities, large and small, are often seen unsafe with frequent attacks, thefts and sexual violence. The media can continue to deny it, but statistics have clearly demonstrated that immigrants are often responsible for many of these actions.

Some commentators attempted to dispute the numbers by stating that violent activities "must be understood as migrants have arrived in Europe with expectations that were not met." As a result, "they find themselves in a chronic poverty situation that they cannot overcome."

How is it possible that no one in Europe questions the absurdity of similar statements? Immigration, particularly illegal immigration, is a problem that must be addressed, and the public should not bear such a large cost while governments identify and give solutions. That is what the far-right parties say. This is why an increasing number of Europeans are voting for them.

Citizens want to be heard, and they want governments to come up with effective policies to address their needs. This is the situation in Europe. If governments have responded to this expectation, Europe's "return of the far right" would not have happened. What is even more disappointing for European civil societies is that, instead of responding to this revolution of needs with concrete strategies, the majority of governments in power have come up with a long list of unsuccessful strategies.

Raising destabilization and unhappiness is a precursor to severe violence. This is particularly true in nations like Great Britain, where the far right is not in power.

(The author is an independent researcher based in Paris. The views are her own.)