Thread by @NvOndarza

Very important thread by @JeremyCliffe on the normalisation of far-right parties in Europe and its cooperation with the centre-right.

I would, however, add two important points:

https://twitter.com/JeremyCliffe/status/1574747242002808833

@JeremyCliffe First, it's not just centre-right parties moving further to the right (like the US republicans), but also far-right parties becoming more moderate, especially on EU policy. See Meloni, Salvini, Le Pen et al all moving away from calling for their version of either Euro or EU-exit.

@JeremyCliffe Instead, as @APHClarkson, these far-right parties have become 'Europeanised' - they know voters don't want to leave the EU, so instead they want to remake the EU in their image, with hard migration, a 'Europe of nations' w/o rule of law protections.

https://twitter.com/APHClarkson/status/1574729281824903169

@JeremyCliffe @APHClarkson 2nd, in this sense, the German AfD is still an outlier - unlike Le Pen, Meloni & Co it has become more radical, moved from Conservative to far-right territory. This is why - despite today's Merz rhetorical disaster - they are further from power than their European peers.

From an EU point of view, this is both good and bad.

Good, because it means that not every national elections is a fight for the survival of the Union. Meloni as Italian PM is no longer seen as the preface to an Italian Euro or even EU exit. This is largely thanks to #Brexit.

However, this also means that the struggle for the values of the EU and where its political power centres are, is real. Does the EU want to be a liberal, open Community based on the rule of law, or one tolerating a growing number of countries with far-right parties in power?