Europe’s Hardening Cordon Sanitaire Against the Left
Across Europe, centrist parties increasingly paint even mild social democracy as a “radical left” threat. The wild rhetoric about left-wing danger has a clear goal: to justify alliances with once-frowned-upon far-right parties.
German far-right leader Alice Weidel recently told Elon Musk that Adolf Hitler was a “communist.” (Hendrik Schmidt / Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
Last month, the world’s richest man offered the leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) — a former member of the Hayek Society, a financial consultant, and still a staunch neoliberal — a global stage to say obscenities such as “Hitler was a communist, a socialist.”
The remarks made by AfD leader Alice Weidel on X with Elon Musk may seem extreme. Yet they represent the latest point reached by what is by now a long-standing trend in Europe.
For years already, we had seen mainstream politicians breaking down the remaining barriers against the far right. In the German Bundestag this past Wednesday, the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Weidel’s AfD voted together to pass a motion calling for a clampdown on migration. But now we are even beyond the point where we could talk of those defenses being removed. For today, the so-called cordon sanitaire is being actively constructed against the Left.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.