Liberal Newspage: How to tackle conspiracies & the rise of the far-right

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Political groups that were once dismissed as fringe far-right parties are gaining popularity across Europe: climbing steadily up the polls, occupying more and more decision-making roles, and shaping the policies of the mainstream right. These movements can profoundly change the political landscape in Europe in the upcoming years. As hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets recently in Germany against the far-right, we look at liberal perspectives on the political changes, focusing on the challenges to liberal systems in North America and Europe.?

Protecting democracy from the radical conservative transatlantic movement?

In May 2022, Viktor Orban warned conservatives in the EU and US that “We must take up the fight. We must take back the institutions in Washington and Brussels. We must find friends and allies in one another.”? Ahead of a decisive election year, authors Ricardo Silvestre and Zsolt Kerner examine and provide counter-narratives to this vision of the ‘radical transatlantic movement.’ They call for the EU to develop tools for broadening data collection on radical political activity in Member States. European institutions must also continue to support campaigns or initiatives that counteract the spread of radical ideas and disinformation, such as the European Democracy Action Plan.?

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Beyond Flat Earth: how to combat conspiracy theories? ?

Conspiracy theories are not just trivial stories; in the age of social media, they have an enormous potential to engage people?and direct their actions in the public sphere. Supporters of these theories not only influence election results, but they could be elected themselves. Conspiracy theories have served as a foundation for the identity of ruling parties in Poland and Hungary, depriving those countries of their place in the family of liberal democracies.?But liberals have an important role in combating online campaigns and developing creative counter-campaigns. ? Beyond Flat Earth, a publication from Projekt: Polska edited by Milosz Hodun, ELF Board Member, explains the problem of conspiracy theories and lays out how we can protect democracy and the future of the EU against them.

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Putin’s political influence strategy in Spain and Latin America?

In recent years, the Kremlin’s influence in Spain and Latin America, has been exercised mainly through connections with grassroots organisations and think tanks. Unlike in the past, these entities have revealed a strong far-right ideological bias, broadly in line with the general evolution of the Russian regime’s thought and influence.? In the following chapter of Putin’s Europe , Juan Pina examines how likely Russia’s far-right strategies are to influence politics in Spain and Latin America. He claims that to address the spread, liberals must stand by their ideas to create a robust defence system, debunk the far right’s false premises and prepare for more decisive action if democracy is put under further threat.

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How can we get through the information noise with liberal messages??

Populist parties do a great job of playing on social emotions, which can be seen as a significant source of their success. For liberals, it was once unthinkable to consider leading a campaign based on emotion, but?with the breakdown of decades-old stable multiple-party systems, liberal start-ups are learning to take advantage of the critical role that emotions can play in elections. The Handbook of Storytelling from Projekt: Polska explains?how liberals can speak the language of emotions and reach a wider group of voters without suppressing their fundamental values.?

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Copyright ? 2024 European Liberal Forum (ELF). All rights reserved. Published by the European Liberal Forum, co-funded by the European Parliament. The European Parliament is not responsible for the content of this newsletter or for any use that may be made of it.