A study of polling from European countries has revealed parties which are defined by their anti-establishment and Eurosceptic views look likely to enjoy a significant boost of support, reports wires service Reuters, which conducted the research.
The projected figures found that despite the loss of UKIP’s 19 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) when Britain leaves the European Union in March 2019, shortly before the next set of European Union (EU) elections are due to take place in May, Eurosceptic groups in Europe are still likely to make significant advances.
Reuters reports:
The current popularity of the anti-establishment parties in Italy’s new coalition, 5-Star and The League, boosts the score of their current blocs in Brussels, though they may not stay at that level after a year in government in Rome. Their ratings, and the rise of Alternative for Germany, more than offset the loss to the anti-EU camp of the UK Independence Party, whose 19 members will leave when Britain quits the EU in March.
The EFDD, dominated today by UKIP and 5-Star, could grow to 59 from 45 seats. The ENF, including Marine Le Pen’s French National Rally and Geert Wilders’ Dutch Freedom Party, could nearly double to 63 seats from 35, thanks in part to the surge in popularity of The League in Italy.
That would raise the two blocs’ combined total to 122 seats from 80 and their share to 17.3 percent from 10.6 percent as the total number of seats falls to 705 from 751 with Britain’s withdrawal. Such a combined force could increase their clout in legislative work.
Besides the great strides expected, the report also notes the potentially fractious differences between potential allies across Europe, where the idea of Euroscepticism is a broad church. Nations such as Poland and Hungary wish to remain inside the European Union but to reform it, making it a more conservative entity which respects the rights and cultures of member nations whereas Eurosceptics in France and Italy are more likely to leave the union altogether — or even see it abolished.
Breitbart London has reported at length on the improving polling for Eurosceptic movements across the continent, matched only by the dwindling fortunes of mainstream, globalist leaders working to maintain the status-quo. Italy, in particular, has proven a strong example, with a populist coalition led by the League’s Matteo Salvini rising strongly in the polls in the run-up to the March election, and then entering government in coalition with fellow anti-establishment party the Five Star Movement.
The shift in attention to populist-right parties may be partly informed by the changing attitudes of voters across Europe, who recent polls find are concerned with mass migration and terrorism beyond any other issues. In a further blow to the future credibility of the EU as an entity able to govern the continent, in Britain, France, Sweden, Greece, and Italy more people polled said they were “pessimistic” about the bloc than “optimistic”.
Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook