On Armistice Day Emmanuel Macron, president of France, chose what should have been a moment of reconciliation to insult much of Europe and the USA, on which my colleague Laura Perrins wrote so cogently here.
When he said ‘Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism’ the Trump-obsessed media saw Macron’s speech at the World War I ceremony as an attack on Trump. A flea can nip a lion. But Macron had a much greater threat in mind. His petulance emerges from his existential fear that he has lost his moment in history as he sees himself and other globalist ideologues being rejected.
Macron’s loathing of the ‘leprosy’ of nationalism arises from more than a threat to his personal grasp on power. It grows from a fear for his beloved European project. Macron has awakened to the growing movement rejecting globalisation with its anti-cultural, anti-traditional, anti-national thrust. He fears this movement is unstoppable.
Bloomberg reports that a recent survey of 1,013 French adults by Kantar Sofres-onepoint for RTL, LCI and Le Figaro showed that 60 per cent have a negative view of Macron’s presidency so far, with only 19 per cent having a positive opinion. Another poll by Ifop found that 78 per cent think he is out of touch with the people. Even the hapless Francois Hollande had higher approval ratings than Macron at the same point in his presidency.
Macron’s LREM party won power in 2017 with 66.1 per cent of the vote. Now it faces next May’s European elections with poll ratings of 19 per cent whilst Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National is polling 21 per cent. When we add the 13 per cent poll standing of the conservative Les Republicains, it is clear that Macron’s determination to push forward European unity is running into serious trouble.
We should read Macron’s statement arguing for the creation of a European army in this light. In the face of increasing rejection by the people of Europe the ideologues are reacting by blindly pressing ahead ever harder with their dream of a United States of Europe. Macron is desperately trying to maintain the globalist trajectory whilst it is falling apart around him.
The traditionalist movement is not confined to France. In Germany the ruling Christian Democrats and their Bavarian counterparts, the Christian Social Union, saw their approval rating fall to 29 per cent, while support for the Social Democrats dropped to 17 per cent, according to a poll. The parties’ combined 46 per cent marks a record low for the coalition, which has held power for much of the last decade.
The same poll shows the nationalist AfD running at a record 17 per cent. This is a gain from the 12.6 per cent the AfD gathered when they entered a federal election nationwide for the first time in September 2017. The AfD are now well represented in all sixteen of the German states. Under the parliamentary leadership of Alice Weidel they look more stable and can be expected to be effective in defending German cultural integrity against the globalist inroads.
Throughout Europe there is a growing trend in nationalist parties. Italy, Austria, Denmark, Finland: the roll of conservative gains goes on. Even in Sweden, long seen as a bastion of modern liberalism, the conservative Sweden Democrats are now amongst the top three parties in Sweden.
The central European countries of the Visegrad group show what can be achieved despite continuous opposition from the EU. In Hungary’s last election Victor Orban’s Fidez won 54 per cent of the vote, followed by the even more nationalist Jobbik with 16 per cent. Even after the EU slapped Hungary down by setting in motion the procedure to bring Hungary before the EU Council under Article 7, Fidez are still polling at 51 per cent and Jobbik at 17 per cent.
Whichever way we look at it, the people of Europe are growing restive under the rule of anti-nationalist globalist ideologues. This of course will not be reflected in the mainstream media.
November 11 was Poland’s Independence Day when it celebrated the centenary of the restoration of sovereignty declaration of freedom at the end of WWI. A march in Warsaw saw crowds in excess of 200,000 patriots. The thrust of the BBC’s coverage, however, was ‘Poland Independence: Huge crowds march amidst far-right row’. A tweet from the BBC World Service read: ‘Poland independence march overshadowed by far-right groups.’
BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week on Monday, the day after the march, demonstrated BBC impartiality running true to form. Those on the panel who thought the march a bad thing were balanced by those who thought it a very bad thing.
Even this was better than the Independent’s coverage of last year’s march: ‘Fascists march in Warsaw for Polish Independence Day in one of “world’s biggest” far-right gatherings.’ The 2017 march even became an issue in the EU’s handling of the ongoing Article 7 process begun in December 2017 which could take away Poland’s EU voting rights. Any signs of opposition to globalism in favour of the nation state is immediately labelled ‘far right’ and a danger to everyone.
There is an awakening throughout Europe to the dangers posed by the corporate globalists to our cultural existence. Those who value what we have and how it was created can expect vigorous pushback from the elites. Expressions of love for country, desire to retain the social traditions and values which formed it, or willingness to say one’s own country should take priority in our political policies will be labelled ‘far Right’ and thus beyond the pale.
We can expect the elites, such as Macron, to wake up to the very real threat to their political existence. The pressure against nationalist and traditionalist movements will increase, especially in the media. Nevertheless, the upcoming EU elections are liable to provide a shock for the elites which they will not be able to pass off as racism, xenophobia or fascism. The globalist chickens are coming home to roost.
