By Simone Rodan-Benzaquen
PARIS, France — American Jewish Committee’s offices across Europe have closely followed the 2024 European Parliament (EP) elections, which took place June 6-9. The results have shown significant progress for extreme right parties across Europe, which was a major concern for Jewish communities around the continent in the lead-up to the election, as the situation for European Jewry had already been dire in recent months due to an unprecedented rise in antisemitism following Hamas’ October 7th terror attacks against Israel.
Progress of the Extreme Right
Centrist European parties maintain their position as the largest bloc in the European Parliament, this includes the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), as well as center, left, and liberal political groups. These groups, which include the national mainstream parties, have been more or less supportive of Israel. Three of the political parties—EPP, S&D (Socials and Democrats), and Renew—often collaborate to pass legislation in order to avoid working with the far-right or far-left.
FRANCE | While the centrist parties maintain the majority, the results of these elections have been marked by critical gains for the extreme right. This is notably the case in France, with a significant victory for the National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen. While Le Pen’s party has tried to normalize itself, particularly by wanting to appear as the protector of Jews against Islamism and the far-left, and by taking rather pro-Israel positions, it is nevertheless concerning given the party’s roots (founded by former Waffen-SS members) and Marine Le Pen’s continued, albeit hidden, entourage of extremist individuals. The party’s rather pro-Russian stance should also be regarded as problematic.
GERMANY | In Germany, the right-wing extremist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) gained ground. Having previously received 11.0% of the vote in 2019, it is now in second place with 15.9%—a historic high, albeit lower than interim poll results. The newly formed left and rather anti-Israel, anti-American, and pro-Russian party Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), led by former Left Party member Sahra Wagenknecht, achieved 6.1% from a standing start. This is the first election in which the BSW has participated. The Left Party emerged from the election with major losses, achieving 2.7% (down from 5.5% in 2019).
ITALY | In Italy, Giorgia Meloni, the charismatic leader of the Italian Right, has presented the party favorably to much of Italy and the rest of the world, despite the many neo-fascists still holding important roles within the party.
Central and Eastern Europe | In Central and Eastern Europe (the V4 and the three Baltic States), which hold 137 seats out of 720 in the European Parliament, the far-right has made significant gains. Even though the center held its ground with Civic Platform winning for the first time in a decade in Poland, or Progressive Slovakia leading Robert Fico’s Smer party to victory, Fidesz and Tisza dominated in Hungary. Populist and radical right parties won in Hungary and Czechia. In Czechia, the ANO Party list of populist billionaire Andrej Babiš won the election with 26.14% and seven seats in the European Parliaments, ahead of the SPOLU (the center-right political alliance) list, which collected 22.27% and six seats. Populist parties exploit security concerns to build anti-immigrant narratives and emphasize national sovereignty, opposing further integration of the EU. This resonates with some Central and Eastern European countries with historical experiences of external control.
Further south, in the Balkans, the results of the elections align with the overall European trends. In Bulgaria, the pro-Russian, nationalist party Revival, known for occasional antisemitic discourse and actions, will have three seats.
How Can AJC Engage This New European Parliament?
Despite the increase of the far-right, the general result of the EP elections suggests a parliament more understanding of Israel’s security concerns, which may make AJC’s Transatlantic Institute’s (TAI) work easier in some respects. At the same time, TAI can’t engage with many of the pro-Israel parties as they come from the far-right, complicating its efforts. While the support for Israel and the rejection of antisemitism among some European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID) parties seems genuine, such as for Meloni’s “Brothers of Italy” party or Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, this is not necessarily the case for others. Particularly troublesome is the rise of Le Pen’s National Rally, Germany’s AfD, and Austria’s FPÖ.
TAI engages with most of the parties within the European Conservatives and Reformists, the third-largest group in the EP, such as Meloni’s party and Poland’s PiS. However, it also includes some national parties that local Jewish communities consider “not kosher,” which TAI must therefore respect and avoid.
Furthest to the right is the ID group, which includes France’s National Rally under Marine Le Pen and the Dutch PVV of Geert Wilders. It rose to 58 seats from 49, making it the fifth-largest group. The other parliamentary groups boycott ID, and TAI does not engage with it either.
There are discussions to potentially merge ECR and ID and, together with Fidesz and potentially AfD, form a right-wing super-group, which would be the second-largest group in the EP. Despite many commonalities, substantive differences remain between ID and ECR, especially regarding Ukraine, making a merger unlikely. However, a reshuffling of some parties may be possible.
Progress of the Extreme Left
The European group “The Left,” containing some of the most anti-Zionist parties, fell from 41 to 39 seats and remains the smallest group in the EP. However, in some countries, the far-left progressed in a troublesome way. This is the case in France, where the far-left party under Jean-Luc Mélenchon (“La France Insoumise”) rose from six to nine seats. Despite its relatively low success in the European parliamentary elections, it has convinced other left-wing parties to ally. This means that the moderate left is now associated with the obsessively anti-Israel and frankly antisemitic part of the left. The notion that antisemitism would be a red line has been entirely disregarded, sending a terrible signal not only to the left, but to society as a whole.
Upcoming Elections in France: The Peril for France, the EU, NATO, and the West
Right after the European elections, President of France Emmanuel Macron announced snap elections following the far-right’s sweeping victory and his party’s defeat. The next steps involve new parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7. This extremely risky move might bring the far-right and far-left even more to the center stage of French politics.
Both blocs are polling ahead of Macron’s centrist bloc. The far-right bloc, led by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and her potential 28-year-old candidate for Prime Minister, Jordan Bardella, is polling at 36%. On the other side of the political spectrum, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left party has managed to convince other left-leaning parties (Socialists, Greens, etc.) to form a bloc, which is now polling at 29%, pulling them further to the left.
Dramatically, Jews have become a central focus of this election, being instrumentalized by the far-right to normalize their party (which positions itself as against antisemitism and anti-Zionism). On the other hand, the far-left strategy has been to use the issue of Israel and Jews to push the far-right into power, aiming to then become the only viable opposition party. Both sides are ultimately aiming for the same goal. In this context, the results of the last AJC survey on antisemitism in France, published in April 2024, have been extensively referred to by French media, especially to explain the root causes and origins of the current rise in antisemitism in the country and to illustrate the fear of French Jews to see the extremes (mostly the far-left) rise to power.
France’s leadership position in the EU, its seat on the UN Security Council, and its military reach as a global power make this almost as much of a “world election” as Biden vs. Trump in November.
The National Rally has faintly criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before that, Marine Le Pen took a large loan from a Russian bank and then one from a bank connected to Hungary’s Putin-sympathizing PM Viktor Orbán. She has said Russian interference in Syria was “good for the world.”
It is also worth recalling—because it tends to be forgotten these days—that the history and much of the present of the Lepenist movement is viscerally anti-American. Marine Le Pen has said in the past she wanted to leave NATO’s military wing, the integrated command, which she sees as an instrument of American hegemony.
At this stage anything is possible. The far-right could win, forcing President Macron to appoint Jordan Bardella as Prime Minister, potentially creating unrest in the country (the left would certainly go to the streets). It would also place the Jewish community and AJC’s partner organization CRIF in a difficult position, which up until now has refused any contact with the party. Another possibility is the lack of a clear majority, which could provoke an institutional crisis. This instability could lead France, Europe, and the world into significant disruption, benefiting those like Russia’s Putin who seek to undermine Western values and alliances.
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Simone Rodan-Benzaquen is the managing director of AJC Europe.