A rise in far-right leaders across Europe is a matter of timing

Last Sunday, Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ) became the latest far-right political group to win a national election in Europe.

The party now faces a familiar challenge encountered by many of its counterparts across the continent: will it form a coalition with the centre-right Austrian People’s Party? Will Herbert Kickl become Austria’s next Chancellor, or will he be sidelined?

Political analyst Cas Mudde contends that while far-right prime ministers remain relatively rare, the traditional “cordon sanitaire” — the refusal to collaborate with extremist parties — has effectively been dismantled.

Centre-right parties are increasingly willing to partner with the far right, not just to boost their own political power but also to secure more influential roles than they would in alliances with the centre-left.

How long the far-right will continue to accept this arrangement? We’ll let Mudde explain.

Radio Schuman also gives you a quick overview of the Chinese electric vehicle tariff vote among EU member states. What is Germany’s political role in this dispute? The result of today’s vote could answer this question.

Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by Zacharia Vigneron and music by Alexandre Jas.