“Come back, Mr President” was Viktor Orbán’s rallying cry at the second annual meeting of the US Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) on Thursday (4 May). It does not take a genius to figure out that it was Donald Trump he was referring to. And the momentum is still building.
In ten days, London will host a two-day gathering on National Conservatism, bringing together right-wing politicians and academics from the UK Conservative and US Republican parties with nationalists from Spain, Hungary, Italy and elsewhere.
This is a different kind of politics from the traditional conservative tenets – the minimised role of the state, low taxes and, in most cases, free markets. Indeed, there is a strong argument that there’s nothing particularly conservative about any of these movements.
The sexual escapades of Trump and Boris Johnson, for one, do not exactly smack of conservative family values. These parties are also happy to embrace protectionism, government handouts and subsidies – concepts unthinkable only two decades ago.
The calculation is that such parties can build a coalition based on blue-collar social conservatives who feel alienated by the social liberalism adopted by socialist parties and wealthier fiscal conservatives who will never switch their alliance to a leftist party.
But what really unites them is the politics of culture war.
The experience of Orbán’s Fidesz government, Trump, and the strains of English, Polish, and Italian nationalism that propelled Boris Johnson, Law and Justice, and Giorgia Meloni to power show that it can be remarkably effective at the ballot box.
Orbán may have few friends outside Hungary, but after more than a decade in power, there is no sign that he will be ousted any time soon.
Still, there are several major question marks over whether this can become a genuine programme to unite the right.
Aside from waging war on migration and what they see as leftist liberalism, not much unites these parties. It seems like a massive stretch to imagine that opposition to transgender rights, abortion, and so-called ‘critical race theory’ is really enough to sustain a viable political movement.
Nor are they operating in the same conditions.
For example, the Orbán government’s restrictions on press freedom and civil society, which starve opposition parties of the oxygen of publicity, would be extremely hard to replicate in Western Europe.
However, we see signs of a general swing to the right on social policy. The centre-right European People’s Party has tacked to the right on migration in recent months, as have many on the left, for that matter.
In the meantime, while many will feel queasy about the prospect of a steady diet of divisive identity politics, the right is at least producing ideas, while Europe’s left and liberals appear to offer little beyond minor tweaks to the status quo.
Today’s edition is powered by Medicines for Europe
European Pharmaceutical Strategy at a crossroads: Independence versus market consolidation?
How can we ensure equitable and timely access to medicines for patients in Europe? Hosted by MEP Stelios Kympouropoulos, join Medicines for Europe and EU40 on May 3 at the European Parliament.
Learn more >>
The Roundup
Berlin is discussing a proposal for a special industrial electricity tariff to avoid firms relocating into regions with cheaper energy prices, something Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck wants to underpin with a similar EU initiative.
A new industry coalition launched on Thursday aims to promote sustainable energy storage technologies that will increase the resilience of Europe’s power grid and open the door for more renewables.
The European People’s Party is set to be the only party in the conservative camp to select a candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, the so-called Spitzenkandidat, as the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy group (ID) oppose the process.
As always, on Friday, check out this week’s Tech Brief for a round-up of policy news.
Look out for….
- Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends coronation of King Charles III in London on Saturday.
- Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders participates in World Law Congress in Madrid on Monday.
Views are the author’s
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Alice Taylor]
Source: euractiv.com
