Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Euronationalism is the process of bringing far right parties to mainstream respectability. A mirror of the Eurocommunism of the 1970s, this is a strategy used by far right parties to start winning elections by underplaying their radicalism and aim for a more respectable image. On the one side it has been used successfully by movements such as France's Front National, Jorg Haider's Freedom Party and Italy's Alliance National, the latter of which is in government. In this guise it has transformed fascist influenced parties into mainstream, if hardline, Conservative parties. Many far right parties like and , claim respectability. However this is often dismissed as propaganda. Other parties such as the Liga Nord in Italy, Vlaams Blok in Belgium and the late Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn seem to be pure products of Euronationalism. The British National Party has been trying this strategy, with a measure of success, under the chairmanship of Nick Griffin. It has been alleged by the BBC that the BNP still has links with the avowedly Nazi violent criminals in Combat 18. There is some controversy about the new moderation of the BNP, it's leader Nick Griffin has said he would "like" to "repatriate" all existing visible minorities, although recognises this as impractical. Many people regard this as disingenuous. The magazine Right Now, the conservative pressure group the Conservative Democratic Alliance and the small Freedom Party are more self conscious attempts to create a euronationalist strain within British political thought. Oppostion Within Britain there has been opposition to Euronationalism. The main face of this has been Searchlight magazine and the Anti Nazi League with high profile members such as the cabinet member Peter Hain. The strategy has been to remind voters of the BNP's fascist roots. Left wing critics such as the militantly anti-fascist Red Action have derided the strategy followed claiming that it is an Establishment strategy that is irrelevant the working class targets of the BNP. Proponent claim that it has prevented it from being any more than a fringe movement. There are regular marches against the Freedom Party in Vienna. Vlaams Blok is shunned by mainstream parties and has been unable to enter government anywhere in Belgium, and the Belgian state has attempted to sever its funding. Themes The main themes of Euronationalism tend to be: Apparent rejection of extra-Parliamentary tactics, with a stress on winning elections. Hostility to further immigration, although claiming to accept existing ethnic minority communities. Euroscepticism Adcovocacy of traditional family mores, seen by some as a cover for homophobia and male chauvinism Defence of traditional institutions such as the monarchy and the church Rejection of the free market(with the exception of the FPO) A professed stress on concentrating on working class votes A stress on corruption among the political classes Environmentalism These can differ (for example the Vlaams Blok is republican, and Pim Fortuyn believed Muslim immigration was a threat to social liberalism) from country to country and group to group. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.