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1/30/07

The Guardian:EUROPE BEWARE-THE RETURN OF THE FASCISTS - Xenophobes, not workers, are uniting across Europe - by Yudit Kiss

Jean-Marie Le Pen in France
For the complete report from the Guardian Unlimited click on this link

EUROPE BEWARE - THE RETURN OF THE FACISTS - Xenophobes, not workers, are uniting across Europe - by Yudit Kiss

East European racists are giving new muscle to the continental far right by preying on the losers from the region's upheaval

The long awaited and welcome accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union has already had a nasty side-effect. It has made it possible for the extreme right to form its own group in the European parliament - giving its parties extra time and money - Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty.

Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front, formerly a vociferous opponent of the EU's enlargement, has delegated Bruno Gollnisch, a recidivist Holocaust denier, to head the group. He has received with open arms the five representatives of the Greater Romania party and Dimitar Stoyanov of the Bulgarian Ataka party, who had already made his debut in the European parliament commenting on the bodies and purchase price of Gypsy women. The newcomers will certainly feel at home in the company of Alessandra Mussolini ("proud to be a fascist"), Ashley Mote (formerly of the British Ukip), and the MEPs of the migrant-bashing Belgian Vlaams Belang, and the Austrian FPO, formerly headed by Jorg Haider. The proletarians of the world seem to be so disoriented by the blows of industrial change and deregulation that they are rather slow to move. So it is the xenophobes of Europe that are uniting - and demonstrating a great deal of mutual tolerance, despite not so long ago having depicted each other as dangerous aliens.

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