The far right’s fringe, and Trump’s

Opinion Donald Trumpfar-rightfascismpolitics The far right’s fringe, and Trump’s Image 61 1024x575 1 Relevant News Fire breaks out in Giolou, Paphos, aircraft and ground crews battle blaze 16 September 2026 The far right’s fringe, and Trump’s 16 September 2026 Cabinet approves plan to bar under-15s from social media in Cyprus 16 September 2026 Costas Venizelos 16 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Eighty years ago, the world crushed Nazism, a global alliance that put aside its differences to take on fascism, to take on Hitler’s expansionist Germany. That defeat shaped postwar Europe. Split it clean in two: capitalist West on one side, so-called “actually existing” socialism (existing being generous) on the other. Years later, the collapse of the Soviet bloc gave the impression that capitalism, the “Western democracy” model, had won outright, leaving the Cold War, and its aftershocks, behind it. The turn of the decade, late ’80s into the early ’90s, brought real upheaval. It was the end of an era. The real question is what came next: how the world handled the day after all that turmoil. So what followed? Inequality. Economic squeeze. And a public pushed toward radicalisation, not to the left, but to the far right. This isn’t a local story, it’s global. Germany’s recent elections proved it, and nobody should have been shocked. The far right Alternative for Germany, the AfD, won the state election in Saxony outright, clearing 40 percent. Forty percent. That result, on top of the trends already building in German society, should worry everyone. None of this is new for Europe. Le Pen’s party has spent a decade banging on the door of power in France, and it’s terrifying people. The same story is playing out elsewhere, the far right gaining ground, forcing its way into the political mainstream. Cyprus is no exception. And the question that never quite goes away is: why does the far right pull people in at all? What does some kid waving a swastika in the football stands actually know about any of it? What does he know about Hitler, about Nazism? What produces role models like that? Genocide and extremism as something to look up to? And this isn’t only about Nazism. In recent years, quietly at first, almost innocently, the far right in Cyprus has built real strength. It’s polling in double digits, and at the last parliamentary election it became the country’s third-largest party, with 10.9 percent. So what’s the political explanation? Partly everything described above, the social dimension. But maybe also something else: the Trump current. The well-combed one, with the old-fashioned fringe, the poster boy for political entitlement, the sense that the rules simply don’t apply to you. What’s actually driving the far right’s rise? Is it the system’s failure to deliver on its social promises? Its failure to offer real solutions? That’s one explanation, at least. The far right’s rise isn’t a new phenomenon. It’s a recurring one, but it’s louder now than it’s been in a long time. And it’s not just louder, it’s going mainstream. Normalised, bit by bit. It’s happening everywhere. In some countries it’s louder still, and more widespread. And this trend doesn’t show up only at the ballot box. There’s far right, racist behaviour running through society that never gets counted in an election result. Racism, social and nationalist alike, hiding in the shadows and turning up everywhere: in the neighbourhood, at work, on social media. It’s clear by now that things in Cyprus are shifting dramatically too, the product of many factors, but above all the long record of failure from the so-called traditional parties. Their failure, their weakness, is what fuels the extremes, extremes that, plainly, offer no solutions of their own. What’s obvious is that the political landscape is in flux, and this isn’t a passing phase, nor is it about to change. At the last election, three parties from the so-called democratic bloc, EDEK, DIPA, the Greens, missed out on parliament entirely, at the very moment ELAM climbed to new heights, and is flirting with even bigger prizes. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Fire breaks out in Giolou, Paphos, aircraft and ground crews battle blaze Cabinet approves plan to bar under-15s from social media in Cyprus More checks. A law that needs rewriting. ‘The best of times, the worst of times’: Von der Leyen’s vision for Europe EU opens door for Canada to become its first associate member, von der Leyen says Overnight pharmacies on Wednesday, September 16 On this day: Operatic soprano Maria Callas died in Paris at 53, in 1977 Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.