Europis 8k8 casino legit?e's woes push voters toward populism

The conflict in Ukraine has shattered Europe's sense of security, ripped up the geopolitical map and rocked its economy. The shock waves have made life more expensive for Europeans, worsened the migrant crisis and complicated their response to global warming.

However, elsewhere in the continent, right-wing populists have made gains in elections, even if, some analysts say, there has been more of a creeping tide than a tsunami.

In France, Marine Le Pen's National Rally made a breakthrough in legislative elections in June, while the Sweden Democrats gained 20.5 percent of votes in the country's election in September, dominated by concerns over gang violence and immigration. Italians, a few days later, chose Giorgia Meloni to be the country's first far-right leader since the end of World War II.

What has happened?

Zhao Junjie, a senior research fellow with the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the rise of populism is based on profound changes in European politics. In short, the current system of government is not working.

"Europe's traditional establishment parties and political elites are unable to find a good way out of a combination of economic and financial crises, the social problems of an aging population, fiscal deficits, the impact of the immigration issue and the heavy burden of welfare. It is the main factor fueling populism as populists claim they are representatives of the grassroots."

Social welfare

For a long time, social welfare systems have failed to deliver what they were supposed to, and the traditional levers of government have been unable to provide solutions to socioeconomic problems, he said, citing problems in parliaments and polarization across Europe.

Furthermore, the European Union's political solidarity is being put to the test as the energy crisis unfolds. EU member states appear to be trying to act in concert, Zhao said, but their divisions over how to combat the crisis are becoming increasingly evident.

Sam Van der Staak at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Stockholm told Euronews television: "What we are seeing is the rise of anti-establishment parties that promise something radically different. Right-wing and left-wing is a misrepresentation. It is really about citizens expressing that they are not happy with politics and what the whole system of government is delivering."

The term populism, which describes a political approach pitching ordinary people against elites, rose to prominence in 2016 when Britons voted to withdraw from the European Union and Donald Trump was elected US president.

To van der Staak, populism has now become normalized to a certain extent.

"Back then we were all scared that populists would take over, but this time I didn't read all that much outrage about the elections in Italy or Sweden."

One reason for this is that some policy stances of populist parties across Europe and the political center have converged, van der Staak said.

Giorgia Meloni in Italy, who had previously been a critic of the EU, repeatedly said before her election that her Brothers of Italy party was not against Europe.

Behind concerns around populism in Europe are questions about what populist parties will do once they gain power.

"What we are going to have to keep an eye on is what these anti-establishment parties do once in office," van der Staak said. "Will they govern responsibly or will they go over the edge?"

In the coming years, Zhao said, there is likely to be a further shift toward right-wing populism in Europe, but the prospect of populist parties' governance is not promising because of their lack of experience.

"They may revise their campaign promises after they win office because most Europeans do not want them to go too far and destabilize their societies."