Nationalism in Europe: The Politics of Fear

The Schuman Declaration of May 1950 which led to the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner of the European Union, had the unequivocal purpose of avoiding a future conflict between France and Germany, to "make war not only unthinkable but materially impossible".  Peace in Europe was bought at the price of weakened national sovereignty.

Over the subsequent decades the idea of a common European identity has been central to the treaties and institutions that have emerged.   The economic benefits of greater European integration have been significant and have led to an expansion in membership of the European Union.   Economic prosperity, or at least the promise of it, was the honey that drew nations to join and the glue that held the EU project together.  Yet since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, as the hope of future prosperity has dissipated, so has confidence in the European project, and almost inevitably, nationalism has returned to Europe.

Table 1: Parliamentary support for nationalist parties across Europe who have seats in the European Parliament
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_nationalist_parties_in_Europe#cite_note-Bugajski1995-13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2014

Nationalism is a complex phenomenon and it manifests itself in different forms across the whole political spectrum yet all forms of nationalism have one common characteristic: fear.   To illustrate this it is helpful to see how this common dynamic is present in different forms of European nationalism.

Right wing nationalism

History has shown us that, at times of social upheaval and economic hardship, people look for straightforward answers to complex problems, and migrants often become the scapegoats.  Right-wing populist parties first re-emerged in Europe in Austria following the fall of the Berlin Wall blaming Romanian migrants for taking their jobs.   Today right-wing nationalist parties can be found across Europe and in some cases with significant political influence and control (see table).

As confidence in distant political elites in Brussels has waned, these right-wing populist parties are able to present themselves as men and women of the people and fear is their most potent weapon. The fear of losing jobs to migrants, of losing national traditions, values and identity, and ultimately of losing autonomy.   As Ruth Wodak has put it, “they arbitrarily define or construct a homogenous in-group and demonize pluralism, pitting the “real” and “authentic” Hungarian, Brit or Austrian, for instance, against everyone else”.

Wodak, an authority on right-wing populist discourse, has observed how “some parties gain support via an ambivalent relationship with fascist and Nazi pasts (e.g., in Austria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and France). Others focus primarily on a perceived threat from Islam (e.g., in the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland). Some restrict their propaganda to a perceived threat to their national identities from ethnic minorities (e.g., in Hungary, Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom). Still others endorse a fundamentalist Christian conservative-reactionary agenda (e.g., in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Russia).”

Left wing nationalism

Whilst far right nationalism re-emerged some decades ago, left wing nationalism is a more recent phenomenon.  Radical left wing politics has always been suspicious of the neoliberalism of the Single European Market.  In that there is nothing new.  What is new is how openly and firmly the radical left are playing the nationalist card, as across the EU anti-austerity parties rail against the imposition of economic restrictions of the ECB as an attack on their sovereignty:  SYRIZA in Greece, Podemos in Spain, Anti-Austerity Alliance in Eire, and others.  As Krupa has put it, “Left-wing nationalism has emerged condemning the EU as the cold-hearted perpetrator of endless neoliberalism”.

If the scapegoat of the far right is the migrant, the scapegoat of the far left is the Euro.  At a recent meeting Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the French Left Front, affirmed that the Euro was a threat to French independence: “faced with the choice between the Euro and sovereignty, we choose sovereignty”.  And though Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister and Syriza party leader, convinced the Greek parliament to agree to a third bailout which kept Greece in the Euro, 25 of his MPs left the coalition to set up a new party calling for Greece to exit the Euro in order to regain economic sovereignty.

“Once again we observe how fear is the common denominator in nationalisms of whatever flavour.”

Increasingly nationalists on both side of the political spectrum are painting the European Union and its fundamental structures like the Euro and the ECB as fundamentally anti-democratic.  For them, only nation states have democratic legitimacy.  As Krupa observes, ““Brussels does not dictate to us!” is now a slogan that unites right and left-wing nationalists”.

Self-determination Movements

Over the last eighteen months two European states have faced votes on self-determination by regions wanting independence from their EU member states, namely Scotland and Catalunya.  Whilst neither of these processes prospered the Scottish National Party achieved extraordinary results in the subsequent UK General Elections in May 2015 winning 56 of the 59 Scottish constituencies.  Interestingly both of these movements are fiercely pro-EU, applying precisely the same anti-austerity rhetoric and fears of their national governments that is commonly applied to Brussels.

Russian Nationalism

Any treatment of nationalism in Europe would be incomplete without at least a mention of the threat that is posed by Russian nationalism.  The historical grievance that Russia suffered following the collapse of the Soviet Union when its status as a superpower was lost is fertile soil for resentment and the idea that Russia is surrounded by enemies bent on destroying her and her people.  Russia’s annexation of the Crimea and military presence in East Ukraine is driven by nationalist rhetoric.  Once again we observe how fear is the common denominator in nationalisms of whatever flavour.

Fear and Love

I am reminded of the words of John the Apostle “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).  Europeans from Finland to Cyprus, from the Atlantic to the Urals need to hear in word and deed the message of hope and love in the Christian gospel.  It was, is and always will be the only secure ground of peace for Europe.

Jim Memory, Lecturer in European Mission, Redcliffe College

Wodak (2014), “(Re)inventing Scapegoats” in The Mark News, http://www.themarknews.com/2014/03/03/reinventing-scapegoats/

Krupa (2015), “Nationalism on the Left” in Zeit Online, http://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2015-09/left-wing-nationalism-europe