Across Europe, there is a fear that the ethnic character of their countries and continent are being altered forever against the will of the people.
A week ago, Russia’s elite cheered and wept as Vladimir Putin announced the re-annexation of Crimea. In Crimea, the Russian majority has not ceased celebrating. In Eastern Ukraine, Russians have now begun to agitate for annexation by Moscow.
But not only in Ukraine is ethnic nationalism surging.
“National Front Vote Stuns Hollande” was the headline on the Financial Times’ story about France’s municipal elections Sunday.
The National Front (FN) of Marine Le Pen, daughter of party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, won the mayoral race outright in Henin-Beaumont and ran first or second in a dozen medium-sized cities, qualifying for run-off elections on March 30. A measure of panic has set in for the socialist party of Francois Hollande, which is calling on all parties to unite against FN candidates.
In early polling for the May elections for the European Parliament, the National Front is running close behind the UMP of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy and ahead of Hollande’s socialists. Begun as an anti-immigrant, anti-EU party, the FN has broadened its base to issues like crime and unemployment.
But the most startling news on the nationalist front last week came in Venice and the Veneto region, where 89 percent of a large turnout in a non-binding referendum voted to secede from Italy. Should it succeed, Lombardy and Trentino would likely follow. Sardinia is also reportedly looking for an exit.
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