Russia and the European Far Right after Brexit: Shifting Gears in the European Parliament. IES Policy Brief Issue 2016/16 • September 2016

Nestoras, Antonios (2016) Russia and the European Far Right after Brexit: Shifting Gears in the European Parliament. IES Policy Brief Issue 2016/16 • September 2016. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

A consensus is emerging in the transatlantic community that the Kremlin’s manipulation of information constitutes a real threat to EU security. Across Europe, far-right, populist and Euro- skeptic political parties are embracing Russia’s information campaigns. In the European Parliament, Marine Le Pen’s Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) is the main proponent of pro-Kremlin narratives. The foreign policy platform of the Front National in France contains explicit references to a strategic alliance with the Kremlin and a pan-European Union that includes Russia. Following Brexit, Marine Le Pen is describing the UK vote as a peoples’ rebellion that has signaled the beginning of the end for the EU, much like the fall of the Berlin Wall signaled the collapse of the Soviet Union. Conceivably, in the aftermath of Brexit the absence of British Eurosceptic MEPs from the European Parliament may lead to the consolidation of the radical far-right under the banner of the Front National. In turn, this means that the EU may have a rather difficult time gathering the necessary support to confront Russian assertiveness in the Eastern Neighbourhood.

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