KOBLENZ: Leaders of Europe’s established far-right parties were bullish about their parties’ prospects at a conference in the German city of Koblenz on Saturday. “We are seeing the end of one world and the birth of a new,” the leader of France’s Front National, Marine le Pen, told supporters of right-wing and anti-immigrant parties. Le Pen was critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received broad praise for her decision to allow hundreds of thousands of migrants into the country in 2015. “But no one asked the Germans what they think of this immigration policy,” Le Pen said at her first public appearance in Germany.
Merkel is now under pressure as frustration grows among voters who have criticised her management of the refugee crisis. The French presidential hopeful described 2017 as “the year of awakening for the people of Central Europe.” European nationalists were no longer on the fringe and would now setout to win majorities in elections this year in the Netherlands, France and Germany, she added. Le Pen has been quick to claim recent anti-establishment victories by President Donald Trump and the Brexit campaign as those of a rising populist right in Europe.
Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders used the platform to repeat his anti-rhetoric, the central theme of policies that have pushed his Party for Freedom (PVV) in front in the polls ahead of elections in March. The leaders of Europe’s established parties were “promoting our,” Wilders said in a speech. European women are now “frightened of showing their blonde hair,” the Dutch politician said, addressing the enthusiastic audience in German. — DPA
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