Center-Right Wins in Finland
Another blow to the European Left comes from the recent vote in Finland. The young Finnish premier Sanna Marin, idol of the left of half of Europe, lost the elections. Marin finished in third place, behind the national conservatives of Antti Petteri Orpo and the populist sovereigns of Riikka Purra. Although the polls predicted a loss for Marin, the gap came in slightly larger than expected. Therefore, another European northern country, after Sweden, turns towards the center-Right. This seems to be yet another sign that the European left seems to have disappointed expectations both in northern countries, such as Sweden, Finland and Denmark, and in southern countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece, despite the great differences at the social, economic and political level. of their respective countries.
Marin, who seems more loved abroad than at home, has been defeated. This happened above all because of her economic policy. Under her government, the debt has risen to 70% of GDP (a much higher figure than is usual in Nordic countries), the economy has been stagnant for months, and the inflation rate is close to 9%. Marin, 37, who became the youngest prime minister in the world in 2019, has dashed the expectations (perhaps too high) that many Finns had placed on her. This was despite the fact that, overall, she did a good job guiding the country out of the pandemic and concluded the process for the country’s entry into NATO.
But her ways of life perhaps a little too impudent maybe, even for the Finns and her private life a little controversial (the video that portrayed her dancing probably not exactly sober at a private party is famous) have thrilled many of her admirers but have also attracted a lot of criticism whether or not they were appropriate to his public role. However, Orpo’s conservatives have mainly focused on her political inadequacies, which have brought the country to the brink of recession, rather than on her private life (in the Nordic countries considered sacred). Furthermore, the mess of the reform on the Sami minorities on which Marin had also attempted to force in parliament, was rejected in February due to the vote against it by a party in her government coalition, certainly led to a drop in confidence in her and her leadership skills. Added to this is a fact that seems incontrovertible: the rhetoric that the Nordic countries are a haven for progressivism and civil liberties is proving to be one of the many fairy tales that the European Left likes so much.
The economic solution proposed by Marin, which envisaged a significant tax increase to finance an increasingly expensive welfare state, did not convince the Finns. The people of her nation instead preferred to rely on the recipe of the conservatives of Orpo, a party closer to businesses and more attentive to public finances. It remains to be seen whether Orpo will rely on the Finn Party nationalists to form a new government or whether it will seek other alliances. The question could also have repercussions on Europe itself, since the nationalist party is Eurosceptic, opposed to immigration, and in favor of tightening EU budgetary rules. What should make the Left, and Europe in general, reflect is the one according to which the nationalist Finns Party would have the majority among young people, denying the cliché that claims young voters favor progressive ideas.
The Center-Right Growing Across Europe
But the center-Right’s victory in Finland is only the latest episode of what appears to be a slow and inexorable advance of the conservatives in half of Europe. In recent weeks, Bulgaria’s conservative GERB-SDS coalition won its elections, obtaining 69 seats out of a total of 240, more than any other. In second place is the liberal party, ‘Let’s continue the change’ (PP), with 64 deputies.
Another interesting case is Sweden, a country historically considered progressive. Last September the right-wing block won 176 of the 349 seats in Parliament. The Swedish Social Democratic Party, the main party in the current governing coalition, grabbed the highest percentage votes ( 107).
The most stunning development was support for the Sweden Democrats, once considered an extremist party, which emerged as the second-most popular party in the country. Analysts said that the last vote in Sweden had been one of the closest in modern times and reflected a desire by Swedes to move in a new direction after decades of center-Left policymaking that has included an openness toward asylum seekers. The right coalition has managed to successfully link up a recent crime wave involving some shootings and gang violence, with the idea that it’s all the fault of foreigners.
According to all the polls, the conservative popular party in Spain maintains a clear advantage over prime Minister Sanchez’s socialists. Thus, here is the picture of Europe, after Giorgia Meloni’s clear victory in Italy: a continent that is decidedly moving towards the Right. In view of the next European elections in 2024, this could mean that the current balance of power in Brussels could radically change in favor of the center-Right.
The Center-Right Can Give Answers Where Others Can’t
What is happening in these countries is that people have begun to realize that conservatives have better arguments about the issues that concern them most. The economy, crime-rates, immigration, and the growing gap between social classes genuinely concern many Europeans, and the proposed solutions to these and other issues proposed by the center-Right have found fertile ground in the mind’s of voters.
To give a concrete example, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni has built her incredible success on strong themes such as immigration, security, and crime. These are themes that have always been important to conservatives, but she has also been able to give concrete answers to the difficulties of the lower middle classes. This has allowed her party to gain the support of many who would once have been firm defenders of the Left. In Finland, Merlin made the same mistake, raising the public debt to 70% of GDP without being able to improve the economic condition of its citizens.
Conservative parties seem to have found greater appeal among the moderate electorate, who consider the Left too weak on economic issues and too soft on serious problems linked to immigration. In Spain, the People’s Party can take advantage of the many uncertainties that have come along with the Sanchez government, which, due to its colorful alliance that supports it, has to make economic compromises and controversial decisions around Catalan separatists. This naturally leads to a constant growth in support for VOX.
The Left has tried to respond to the advance of the conservatives, accusing them of being populists. But not everyone takes this term to be an inherently negative one, because since its origins in tsarist Russia, it has represented a movement aspiring to a sort of rural socialism, in opposition to tsarist bureaucratism and western industrialism. Paradoxically, this is precisely what the Left should be aiming for, but it has instead become too bourgeois. The Left accusing the Right of populism in reality does nothing but certify their defeat as a political movement that should draw its essence precisely from the defense of the less well-off classes of society. And this can only play into the hands of the Right, which is advancing inexorably throughout Europe.
