Europe | Crumbling firewalls

Hard-right parties are entering government across Europe

Germany is among a dwindling number of holdouts

People gather in front of the Reichstag, seat of Germany's parliament, for a large-scale protest against right-wing extremism
The cordon holds in GermanyPhotograph: Getty Images

IN 2000 AUSTRIA’S conservatives invited the Freedom Party (FPÖ), a hard-right outfit with Nazi roots, into government—and opprobrium onto their own heads. Other eu governments suspended contacts. Scientific and artistic boycotts were mooted. Louis Michel, Belgium’s foreign minister, urged his compatriots to snub Austria’s ski slopes.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “From pariahs to participants”

Dawn of the solar age

From the June 22nd 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Europe

Russia’s bloody summer offensive is hurting Ukraine

Kremlin troops are making gains in the Donbas region

How much of a difference will Ukraine’s new F-16s make?

Too few to beat Russia’s air force, but a strong symbolic start


Some Germans think the hostage exchange with Russia was a dirty deal

But preserving good relations with America was more important


The deal that freed Evan Gershkovich was more than a prisoner swap

It freed Russian prisoners of conscience as well as Westerners taken hostage by Vladimir Putin

The Olympics are teaching the French to cheer again

France’s politics is a mess, but the games are glorious

Humiliated by Azerbaijan, Armenia tacks towards the West

Courting the EU and America without alienating Russia is a difficult trick