From Germany and France to Poland and Spain, the far-right made inroads into the youth vote in key states in this EU election – as a generation that has grown up amid constant crises seeks new answers and follows politicians fluent in TikTok and YouTube.
Young voters, traditionally perceived to be more left-wing, drove the wave of support for environmental parties at the last EU election in 2019, earning the nickname “Generation Greta” after the young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
But following the pandemic, the Ukraine war and cost of living crisis, many shifted their support this year towards far-right populist parties that tapped into their concerns, fuelling their overall rise in the June 6-9 EU parliament poll.
With the leaders of Europe’s often upstart ethno-nationalist, anti-establishment movements mastering new social media better than their mainstream counterparts, they are earning cachet as a subversive counterculture among some young people.They appeal in particular to young men who feel left behind and censored by an increasingly “woke” mainstream, analysts say.
“Germany is not going in a good direction and they were the only party with a really clear message, on migration,” said Christoph, 17, a trade school student in Berlin who declined to give his full name, who voted for the far-right Alternative for Germany.
Support for the AfD, which wants to curb migration and warns against what it calls the Islamisation of Germany, was up 11 percentage points to 16% among under-25 year olds, according to an exit poll by Infratest dimap – more than double the 5-point rise among the broader population.
The shift, which helped the AfD achieve a historic second place nationwide, was notable in that Germany’s decision to allow 16-18 year-olds to vote for the first time had been expected to favour left-leaning parties.
Though the far-right did not do well everywhere among young voters – and they are a relatively small category in a continent with an ageing population – the trend will still worry mainstream parties, who face a snap election later this month in France, and federal elections next year in Germany.
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