This is the best summary I could come up with:
For decades, political parties of all kinds joined forces to keep the hard-right far from the levers of power.
Today, this strategy — known in France as a cordon sanitaire (or firewall) — is falling apart, as populist and nationalist parties grow in strength across the Continent.
Six EU countries — Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic — have hard-right parties in government.
In the Netherlands, the anti-Islamic firebrand Geert Wilders is on the verge of power, having sealed a historic deal to form the most right-wing government in recent Dutch history.
Across the Rhine, Alternative for Germany, a party under police surveillance for its extremist views, is polling second, head-to-head with the Social Democrats.
As we approach next month’s European Parliament election, these parties may use their momentum to form a powerful political bloc — if they can maintain their unity.
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