The Guardian view on Europe's firewall against the far right: in growing need of repair | Editorial

"Earlier this autumn, Giorgia Meloni laid out the strategic path to a new era of nationalist populism across Europe. Addressing a gathering of the French far-right party Identite-Libertes, which is led by Marine Le Pen's niece, Marion Marechal, Italy's prime minister underlined the need to work towards the unity of the right and the centre-right adding I hope that one day this can also happen in France but that will depend on you."

"Ms Meloni knows of what she speaks. Her Brothers of Italy party, which has a lineage going back to postwar neofascist movements, became hegemonic under her leadership by mounting a reverse takeover of the Italian right. Less than a decade ago, it scored a marginal 4% in a general election. Currently, it stands at 31% in the polls. Forza Italia, the centre-right party founded by Silvio Berlusconi and a coalition partner in Ms Meloni's government, is at 8%."

"In France, a regularly mobilised republican front has seen centre-right voters combine with those on the left to stop Ms Le Pen achieving something similar. But as the conservative Les Republicains party (LR) searches for a way to revive its flagging fortunes, the cordon sanitaire is looking thin and frayed. Last month it was definitively breached in parliament for the first time, as MPs passed a motion put forward by the far right on an immigration-related theme."

Giorgia Meloni urged unity between the right and the centre-right to extend nationalist-populist influence across Europe, with hopes expressed that France might follow. Brothers of Italy transformed from a marginal postwar neofascist-rooted party into a dominant force under her leadership, rising from 4% to 31% in polls while Forza Italia falls to 8%. A historically mobilised republican front in France has combined centre-right and left voters to block similar gains, but that cordon sanitaire is weakening. The French parliament passed a far-right immigration motion and senior conservatives have softened criticism of far-right figures, while media power amplifies narratives of left-wing extremism.

Read at www.theguardian.com