FAR RIGHT POPULIST CHALLENGE IN EUROPE. ALTERNATIVE FOR GERMANY AND THE NATIONAL FRONT

Abstract

The answers offered by EU Member States in sensitive moments (the financial crisis of 2008, the refugees` crisis, the terrorist attacks), have eroded European citizens` confidence in the Union's capacity to manage such surprising and unprecedented dynamics, while simultaneously deepening their perception of EU as a partially delegitimized supranational entity. Right-Wing populist parties have gradually increased their attractiveness by capitalizing on the frustration and disenfranchisement feelings perceived by European citizens. European populist parties promote the alternative of a direct opposition towards the system`s political correctness and against the perceived blockage of democratic debate, on their path toward gaining real effective political power. I will start with a short introduction of a theoretical approach of far-right populism in Europe. Using a qualitative research method, defined by discourse analysis (speeches, statements), I will then illustrate the way the political programs of Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Le Pen`s National Front (FN) were thought and built in order to understand how these have led to an increase in the appeal of European populist parties. In the conclusions section I will evaluate the impact of these political alternative movements on the future of the European Union`s essence, on its main values and principles.