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Dangers of national populism3 March / 20:30 / Alhambra / Co-presented with Libération and Le Temps
Never before has the rise of national populism in Europe been such a serious concern. In Hungary, in total impunity, Victor Orban is drafting an antidemocratic constitution that flouts all the basic values of the European Union without any apparent reaction from the latter. European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding seems aware of the danger, while some members of the European Parliament are supporting Orban. Yet, as Daniel Cohn Bendit points out: "It doesn't make sense to wish for a more political Europe and keep quiet on these issues."
This extremist state of mind is catching, as the participation - like Trojan horses - of extreme right-wing populist parties in several European governments would tend to prove. The terrorist temptation is even more serious, as has been demonstrated by the savage terrorist attack perpetrated by a supposedly irresponsible follower of this ideology, Anders Behrings Breivik.
The opening of Europe's borders and immigration encourage racism and xenophobia. That being the case, how to gather together complex individual specificities, groups and nations to combat this withdrawal based on a fear of threatened identity? We should look again at Pierre Rosanvallon's paradoxical question: how to continue to "abhor populism and glorify the principle of popular sovereignty"?
In encouraging a drift towards social injustice, the context of social and economic crisis is an important activator of neo-populism. But there are other reasons for this success, like the spreading of hate on the Web. How to combat this verbal diarrhoea that has nothing to do with free speech?
Resistance is more than ever important. The rise of fascist ideas and their political consequences with their impact on human rights calls for a strong civilian mobilization. We need to hear respected voices that people listen to. After this debate, we plan to launch an Appeal against "National Populism" supported by all democrats from across the political board, whether from its right or left wings.
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