I find it rather amusing how many articles and talk shows are dedicated to analyzing why right-wing parties are gaining ground in Europe. You might not call them right-wing—perhaps you prefer the term populist or nationalist—but we all know who we’re talking about: Alternative for Germany (AfD), Austria’s FPÖ, France’s Rassemblement National, and similar parties that now exist in nearly every European country.

As I discuss in my latest video on YouTube, things in life are sometimes really not complicated. In this case, the primary driver—accounting for 90% of the phenomenon—is asylum policy. Whether in European elections or national contests, voters keep sending the same message, loud and clear: they’ve had enough of the abuse and the undermining of the right to asylum.

Yet, the mainstream parties persist as if nothing has happened. Historically, when faced with a challenger party—whether from the right or left—the established parties have adjusted their positions, adopting at least some of challenger’s policy proposals. But here, driven by ideology and dogmatism, the opposite is happening. In partnership with the mainstream media, religious institutions, and academia, the established parties insist that only a racist or a Nazi could possibly take issue with Europe’s asylum policies.

Now, if you ask for my personal view—sure, some members of the AfD or the FPÖ hold genuinely extreme views. But that’s not why these parties are growing. There aren’t more racists in Germany, Austria, or other European nations today than there were four years ago. These parties are expanding because the mainstream parties are actively forcing voters toward the extremes.

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