Ahead of the European election, striking data shows where Gen Z and millennials’ allegiances lie.

Far-right parties are surging across Europe — and young voters are buying in.

Many parties with anti-immigrant agendas are even seeing support from first-time young voters in the upcoming June 6-9 European Parliament election.

In Belgium, France, Portugal, Germany and Finland, younger voters are backing anti-immigration and anti-establishment parties in numbers equal to and even exceeding older voters, analyses of recent elections and research of young people’s political preferences suggest.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration far-right Freedom Party won the 2023 election on a campaign that tied affordable housing to restrictions on immigration — a focus that struck a chord with young voters. In Portugal, too, the far-right party Chega, which means “enough” in Portuguese, drew on young people’s frustration with the housing crisis, among other quality-of-life concerns.

The analysis also points to a split: While young women often reported support for the Greens and other left-leaning parties, anti-migration parties did particularly well among young men. (Though there are some exceptions. See France, below, for example.)

  • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    This is so frustrating to watch as an American. I spent much of my youth on the internet getting clowned on by Europeans for the consequences of my country’s hard right policies. The UK has been deservedly getting clowned on for the consequences of embracing the Tories. It beggars belief that the same people clowning on the US and UK would then turn around and say to themselves “yes, but it will be different for us, it will work for us, our situation really is different, you don’t understand”. No, it won’t be different. Pretty soon, you’re going to be following the path that the Tories set the UK on, marvelling at how dysfunctional your government is, and hearing about how the only solution is even more gibs to the people who are already the most economically advantaged and the private sector. Before you click reply, just consider that you guys deserve to get fucking dunked on, because you guys spent decades laughing at other countries for doing this shit just to say “hmmm… but what if sticking the fork in the electrical socket works out for me?” I’m honestly sad and disappointed for Europe, not least of all because after years of deservedly shitting on the US for being racist, all it took was one big wave of immigration for you guys to hold up blonde dumbasses with bad hair and worse ideas as the solution to all of your problems.

    “Oh, great bozo of the European trailer park, what is your wisdom to save our culture from the immigrants?”

    “Deregulate sewage plants. You will certainly not regret deregulating sewage plants.”

    Enjoy your US-style healthcare system in a few years, I guess.

    • Mrkawfee@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Europeans have a long history of blaming foreigners for their problems when times are tough. This isn’t really anything new.

    • undergroundoverground@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Unfortunately, American politics is so toxic, its infected nearly every country its come into contact with.

      Understanably, american money and election interference is the reason European politics is becoming more americanised. For example, it was regan who radicalised thatcher. It was American and Russian dark money that funded vote leave (brexit). It was the CIA who funded far right groups all over Europe. Its American, far right Christian groups who try to lobby to take away reproductive freedom for women etc. etc.

      America is empire now and no ones laughing anymore.

      • WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Europe has had so many far right groups throughout history and they haven’t gone anywhere. You can definitely think of a few in recent history, not even mentioning Russia. You can just dismiss this away as some foreign influence, this is a problem the world is facing and it’s a problem with me and you.

        • undergroundoverground@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I don’t think I dismissed it but mearly made sure that all the factors leading to it were included. In fact, its people taking issue with me mentioning them who are dismissing things they dont like. If you’re in denial about that, then you’re probably in detail about how much of an influence America was on Hitler too.

          For sure, its not like we need any help with making far right groups. However, we have help making them none the less.

          I mean, maybe the rise of the far right in America and then a similar rise across the world, with a sufficient lag time, is completely unrelated. Maybe operation galdio didn’t do exactly what it set out to do. Maybe its better to blame people for the additional effect it has on them, outside of their control. I mean, that would be very in keeping with far right thinking.

      • Serinus@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Those are quite some claims. Some I’ve never heard of.

        You’ll have to excuse me for being skeptical.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        You keep missing a few key words. American Corporations and Global Billionaires. Our politicians and far right think tanks have their marching orders. They aren’t the driving force themselves.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            I think it’s pretty clear the rich people fucked them up too. The working class isn’t chomping at the bit to go oppress people. The Royal Navy literally abducted sailors to keep it’s empire going, and Rome forced “barbarians” into the military to create a civil military divide that protected Italians from really feeling the cost. But then that system killed the Republic, and later the Western Roman Empire.

            Workers want two things. To provide for their loved ones and to have a bit of time they can enjoy with their loved ones. The ideas of imperialism and especially radical conservatism have to be jammed down their throats from day 1 of school. That takes money and influence. You know who has money and influence?

            It ain’t the people.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                Yeah. If we could get more people realizing that then maybe we could get representatives that are willing to hold the executive to account and not just play partisan games.

    • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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      6 months ago

      Arguably the hard right foreign policies of the US from the last 10-20 years are responsible for a lot of the migrant waves Europeans are fearing. You guys blew up the middle east…

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        You think the EU didn’t have a hand in that? Who did Libya again? Who was famous for doing stuff in Northern and Western Africa? Who drew the lines that fucked half the world? Who insisted on keeping their colonies until it was absolutely too late to stop strong man rebellions from becoming dictatorships?

        The US is in the picture, but it’s not alone by a long shot.

        • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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          6 months ago

          God no, the EU countries are not blameless. But they by far not the prime mover of the blowing up of the Middle East.

          Junior partners are junior.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Oh? The US forced the French to keep operating in Africa until (checks notes) last year? The US forced them to operate colonies until they couldn’t be militarily sustained anymore? The US forced the dumbest drawing of country borders? The US forced Europe to take part in cold war geopolitics?

            Take some responsibility.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                Are you aware of what’s happening in Gaza right now? Did you know France was one of Saddam’s biggest arms suppliers during the Iran Iraq war?

                You really really need to read more history.

                • acargitz@lemmy.ca
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                  6 months ago

                  None of this negates my argument.

                  I’m making the argument that the Europeans, while being junior partners in imperialist domination are not the main drivers, and are in fact an order of magnitude less powerful than the US. Wtf is your argument? That they are co-equal to the Americans?

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                    6 months ago

                    Arguably the hard right foreign policies of the US from the last 10-20 years are responsible for a lot of the migrant waves Europeans are fearing.

                    That’s not what you said. The conflicts from the last 10-20 years are rooted in colonialism, the break up of the Ottoman empire, and the rise of single resource economies. The US is certainly the leading imperial power right now, but they didn’t set this stage.

      • escaped_cruzader@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        are responsible for a lot of the migrant waves Europeans are fearing

        The EU is could very much send them right back where they came from, but they don’t and in a lot of cases, outright sponsor it

        This whole immigration kerfuffle is simply top down shenanigans from the ruling elite to divide the poor

        • WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          All immigration is a plot to divide us? Are the immigrants actors? That’s ridiculous, I know many people who wouldn’t support sending immigrants back and many people who don’t want any.

          • Asafum@feddit.nl
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            6 months ago

            It’s a shame that there are people in this world so selfish that it’s literally inconceivable that others would willingly accept some economic pain in order to ensure people can be saved from almost certain death…

            If we can figure out how to land a goddamn satellite on an asteroid and then have it return, if we can design and land a freaking bus sized rover on another planet using a freaking sky crane, then I think we can handle figuring out how to properly incorporate immigrants into our economy if we’d only listen to actually intelligent experts…

            But no, let’s listen to angry shitty business running orange man and his contemporaries around the world… He said mean things about the people that make me mad so he’s my man!

        • SirQuackTheDuck@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          The EU is could very much send them right back where they came from, but they don’t

          That’s only for the war refugees. Sending people back to, say, Eritrea, would mean they’d be executed for leaving the country (which is illegal there).

          Those only represent a tiny fraction of the immigrants though, and they’re not the ones “taking all the jobs”, that’s the worker immigrants.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            They aren’t even “taking” the jobs. That’s the suits doing that. They decide who to hire. And if they had to pay the immigrants what they have to pay you then it would be a lot more fair of a labor market. But they don’t want you thinking about that. They want you thinking the boss just had to go with this random immigrant who showed up one day. Like he got to work before you and the boss was like, “I guess I have to fire Quack now?”

    • Blubber28@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      For what it’s worth, it’s incredibly frustrating as a European with a functioning brain too.

    • Wahots@pawb.social
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      6 months ago

      Don’t worry man, we will get you a megaphone to shout “I told you so” as (only men) are conscripted to go throw our lives away for D-Day v2 in Europe, lol. Have fun in the tailgunner’s seat.

      Every 70-100 years, some absolute cunt like Putin or Xi rises up and decides it’s a brilliant idea to kill all their young men, some other country’s young men, and the “undesirables” on the other side. They that the war will only last four weeks and victory is guaranteed. It. Never. Is.

      Fuck populism and authoritarianism. People get bored and never learn.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        This is so frustrating to watch as an American. I spent much of my youth on the internet getting clowned on by Europeans for the consequences of my country’s hard right policies. The UK has been deservedly getting clowned on for the consequences of embracing the Tories. It beggars belief that the same people clowning on the US and UK would then turn around and say to themselves “

        If we can put it off just a few more years I’ll be too old to conscript back into the military and I can go hide in the mountains.

    • Wanderer@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      It’s all about immigration and housing.

      I’m pretty fair left. It’s weird that traditionally left leaning parties were about housing and jobs. But they seem to have lost their way.

      The more you care about certain things the more you have to vote right because the left got their head in the sand.

      • WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I really wish the republicans weren’t trying to start a dictatorship and we had some actual options for who to vote for.

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I would always point out that European security has been subsidized by the American taxpayer for 70 years. Finally starting to see that change, I just hope idiots like Geert aren’t the ones leading that charge.

      • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        I mean, not trying to sound like a pessimist as much as a realist. Even if Europe started paying the full sum of what we’re paying in defense subsidies, I seriously doubt we’d cut that spending. Raytheon and Lockheed’s investors are counting on us.

        • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Yeah you’re probably right. It’d likely just move the bulk of the expenditure over to Asia to contain China