Happy Halloween! Europe's Scariest Pols

I love Sweden, the country where I was born and where I live. I also love Europe, the most diverse and fascinating continent on Earth. However, there is one thing that I hate about Europe and it is the tendency of many of its voters to support far-right parties, a fact that seems to hark back to the continent’s tragic history of starting wars and committing genocide. It would seem that a large part of the European electorate is prepared to never learn something from our past. Before I introduce a list of some of the most despicable politicians in Europe, I’d like to make a few things clear. I’m not directly accusing all of these people of being racists. Some of them hold decidedly racist views, but labeling them pure racists often work in their favor, making some voters feel sorry for them and begin to sense that their own fears of the “unknown” (such as women in niqab) are something worth voting against. Many of these politicians also claim that their views are in the tradition of European values… but then why won’t they support a traditional party instead of working for one that generally builds its foundation on very vocal hatred of anyone who doesn’t look “European”? The tricky thing about these parties is that, much like religious cults, they spend so much time trying to convince everyone that they are not what they obviously are that it becomes increasingly difficult for the media to pin them down. Still, be sure never to fall into their traps.

Today is Halloween, a day of horror, and it is appropriate to take a look at Europe’s scariest politicians.

Nick Griffin – The leader of Britain’s British National Party and a member of the European Parliament, Griffin has been convicted of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred and has previously denied that the Holocaust ever took place. Griffin has changed over the years, trying to make his party more respectable. He recently appeared on a much-talked about edition of BBC’s Question Time (the clip above shows ten minutes of it) where he faced much criticism for his hateful views on Islam. He has gained a lot of attention, but the British electoral system is unlikely to ever make him a truly successful politician.

Pia Kjaersgaard – The most dangerous person on this list is probably this pleasant-looking lady, the leader of Denmark’s People’s Party. The reason why she is so powerful is because two leading Danish politicians lack the backbone to stand up to her. They are former Prime Minister (and the current Nato Secretary-General) Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the current Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Along with Kjaersgaard, they have exacerbated the resentment some Danes feel toward Muslims and turned it almost into what the rest of us feel is a national trait. Kjaersgaard’s success is a lesson for the rest of Europe. Be very careful when approaching the far right; they might end up owning your ass.

Frank Vanhecke – The former chairman of Belgium’s Vlaams Blok and Vlaams Belang, Vanhecke is still a member of the European Parliament. In 2004, Vlaams Blok was ruled a racist party by Belgium’s highest court, leading Vanhecke to help found a new party, Vlaams Belang, that still stayed true to the good old values. You know, the ones that want to restrict immigration to a minimum, kill the Belgian nation as we know it, force anyone who moves to Flanders to adopt its culture and language, and reject multiculturalism. The current chairman of the party, Bruno Valkeniers, still supports South African apartheid. Considering the continued internal struggles of Belgium, Vlaams Belang is still a potentially influential party.

Jean-Marie Le Pen – The leader of France’s Front National is resigning after a moderately successful career as the continent’s most famous racist. His greatest success was the presidential election of 2002 when he managed to make sure the choice stood between himself and Jacques Chirac, forcing leftist voters to support Chirac. Le Pen has made one outrageous remark after the other, but it is possible that his daughter Marine, a potential successor, will try to make Front National more liberal and thus more successful.

Geert Wilders – The current chairman of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, Wilders is so obsessed about Muslims that he even made a movie about the dark aspects of the religion. Wilders calls himself a “libertarian” and like so many others of the people named in this blog entry, he considers himself a rebel in his country, a man who stands up against the insanity of the regular political system. Like so many others in this blog entry, Wilders also is definitely guilty of inciting hatred against minorities. Anyone looking for actual quotes for proof of that won’t have to look far; Wilders is very vocal about his opinions.

There are many other xenophobic names to mention. Sweden’s Jimmie Åkesson frequently names Islam as a threat and Italy’s Umberto Bossi is the leader of Lega Nord whose representatives speak disparagingly of Africans trying to find a better life in Italy. Siv Jensen heads the Progress Party, which is now Norway’s second largest party, quite conventional in several aspects but still hostile in its attitude toward immigrants. And then there’s Heinz-Christian Strache, the current leader of Jörg Haider’s old party in Austria, the Freedom Party. I haven’t even begun to mention all the nationalist parties of the old Eastern countries. Europe is full of hatred toward minorities. It may not be an unique trait for the continent, but it is vibrant here and very disturbing. Forget about Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees and all the other fictional bogeymen. There are plenty of other real-life horror shows out there.

politik usa politics