Steve Bannon: The face of the right wing war on Europe

By Hamza Ali Shah

Brexit triggered it, Trump advanced it and now Steve Bannon is consolidating it. The right wing wave that has engulfed the globe, and found a home in Europe, is going from strength to strength. The latest wave see’s Steve Bannon express his desire to execute a project in Europe, which he labels The Movement. Such a project would set up a foundation to boost the spread of far right groups across Europe. There is already unprecedented right-wing support in Europe, as the leaders who transmit populist and inflammatory rhetoric are garnering support for their cause, and in the process converting populist rhetoric into discriminatory policies. Thus, Bannon appears determined to escalate the ongoing ideological battle between nationalists and globalists as liberal democracy comes under threat.

The populist bloc he intends to set up in Europe, will be based in Brussels, at the heart of the European Union, which is a strategic move on his part given that his key focus will be to ensure the success of the far-right in the European Parliament elections taking place in May 2019.

The former Trump adviser asserted his intention to equip his European allies with strategic support including data targeting, polling, think tank research, PR advice, information on opposing liberal arguments, financial backing, as well as fuelling of national tensions through a supposedly anti-establishment lens.

This emphasises the scope of his vision, which is to create an alt-right super group in Europe, which would undermine pro-EU agendas. Central to the advancement of his movement is the support he hopes to generate from likeminded members of the European Parliament (MEP’s), which are growing in numbers (Stubley, 2018).

In fact, the expanding nationalistic sentiments are captured through the common enemy that several leaders in Europe share: the EU, and in particular its determination to facilitate free movement across the continent. The desire to impede an institution that stands for toleration and rationality and stands firm against aggressive nationalism demonstrates the extent to which right-wing populism is gathering pace. It also exhibits the degree to which the tide is turning in Europe, which Bannon’s contribution will only heighten.

Hence, this explains the substantial time he has spent in Europe recently, as he seeks to amass support for his cause.

For example, he has met a series of right-wing leaders including France’s Marine Le Pen, Alice Weidel of Alternative for Germany, Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Nigel Farage. Likewise, during his visit to the UK, he described the founder of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson, as the “backbone” of Britain in comments made off-air after his appearance on Mr Farage’s LBC radio show (Stubley, 2018). He also has the backing of the Conservative party’s prominent politician, Boris Johnson. Furthermore, Bannon labelled Italy as the beating heart of modern day politics (Stubley, 2018), as the country has taken a right wing turn since the latest elections and adopted a strong nationalistic and xenophobic approach.

Additionally, the former Breitbart editor also met with the leader of Republika Srpska – the Serbian Nationalists in Bosnia- Zeljka Cvijanovic. The Republika Srpska is one of three cantons in Bosnia, part of a federal system devised after the war in the Balkans in the 1990s.

Therefore, the substantial backing Bannon has received for his cause demonstrates the shifting political balance that Europe is undergoing.

Indeed, anti-immigrant and anti-internationalist sentiments have expedited in Europe, which the Brexit debacle induced, and resultantly several leaders and their nations have followed suit, and now define their identity through exclusionary ethnic lens (Galston, 2018).

Inevitably, minority groups are the ones who feel the brunt of this wave that has encircled Europe.

The anti-migrant political strategy that Trump adopted, and Bannon was pivotal to, which included statements from Trump that stipulate ‘America will not become a migrant camp’, as well as statements which display a remarkable level of insensitivity, like pinpointing some immigrants as ‘animals’  (Gambino, 2018), has made its way across the Atlantic and plagued Europe.

For example, Hungarian president Viktor Orban, known for his hard-line right wing views, endorsed Trump’s viewpoints when he referenced the arrival of asylum seekers into Europe as ‘poison’, whilst concurrently designating Trump’s right wing foreign policy approach as ‘vital’ for Europe.

Accordingly, he ramped up his populist rhetoric prior to the April elections when he affirmed his disdain for multicultural Europe, which according to him, means ‘dark clouds are gathering’ (Boffey, 2018). In fact, Orban’s viewpoints are shared across Europe and he has political support from several of his neighbours, including Polands Law and Justice Party, in particular regarding migrant quotas.

Likewise, Italy’s latest election was one that was brimming with nationalistic tendencies. Matteo Salvini, commander of the right wing political group, The League, and now Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior in a coalition government, asserted that ‘Centuries of history are at risk of disappearing’ and emphasised that ‘out of control immigration’ which he labels as an‘invasion’, was an urgent problem that induces social conflict and requires addressing (Sunderland, 2018) .

Problematically, such rhetoric has intensified to the extent it is the cornerstone of political strategies and is leading to implementation of discriminatory policies directed at migrants and minorities across Europe.

This is conspicuous in several countries. Hungary recently submitted a new piece of anti-migrant legislation, informally called the ‘Stop Soros’ Bill, which would make it a criminal offence to offer financial or logistical support to refugees. Such a move would provide a platform that would legitimise hostilities towards migrants.

Additionally, immigration rules in Denmark are among Europe’s toughest, reflecting the power of the right-wing Danish People’s Party, who are the second largest party in parliament. Denmark allows its police to seize migrants’ property to pay for their upkeep and has pledged to boost contraception aid to developing countries to limit the migration pressure.

Similarly, Italy have closed their ports to humanitarian ships rescuing migrants off the coast of Libya.

Likewise, France, Norway and Sweden have banned certain religious head coverings, such as the niqab and the burqa, in schools and workplaces, meanwhile Italy are determined to pass legislation that would require crucifixes to be displayed in public.

Indeed, such acts are unambiguous efforts to enshrine marginalisation into law, designed to side-line and undermine minority communities. In the wake of the financial, migrant and refugee crises, there has been a backlash against the political establishment and a significant feeling of discontent, which taps into the long-standing fears of globalisation and the dilution of national identity, thus the common themes are hostility to immigration, anti-Islamic rhetoric and Euroscepticism. In fact, a recent survey evinced that attitudes towards minority groups are hardening, and the aforementioned tendencies and policies demonstrate that. Should Bannon pursue with his project, Europe will be slipping into a phase of ethnic intolerance, whereby national sovereignty and identity takes priority, in a move that will strengthen the right wing surge.

Ultimately, after playing a monumental role in advancing Trump’s right wing agenda, Bannon is on a mission to alter the dynamics in Europe too. Capitalising on the expanding populist sentiments in Europe, Bannon hopes to unite all the right wing agenda’s under the umbrella of The Movement, in his quest to create a super group in Europe. Accordingly, this will set the ball rolling for the consolidation of the right wing war on Europe, which is already underway. Observers suggest this will have a transformative effect on the political direction of Europe, as it will re-invigorate and shift the focus and principles of the right wing factions in favour of populist sentiments, whilst simultaneously acting as a wakeup call to the left, thus prompting drastic changes to the European political landscape, and Bannon will be the architect.

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