Der Speigel has this map accompanying this article about the rise of the right in Europe:
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I encourage Blogmocrats to read the article at its source. Here is an excerpt:
Right-wing populism itself isn’t anything new. It has been a fixed entity for about 30 years in many European countries, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. What is new, however, is that the right-wing populists have discovered an issue that is much more appealing to voters than the usual anger against foreigners and the political class. They have found a powerful new issue in resistance against the growing visibility of Islam in Europe. They portray themselves as the defenders of European values, and yet both they and their voters seem to care very little that some of those values, such as freedom of religion, are being trampled on in the struggle.
The fear that Muslim immigrants could change the character of European society penetrates deeply into the middle of society. In German opinion polls, about three-quarters of respondents say they are concerned about the influence of Islam. Similar sentiments are voiced in other countries, even though immigration to Europe has been in decline for years.
Perhaps, as in America, the Middle Class in Europe , the Average Klaus-Detlef in this case, is awakening to the threat of Islam and is willing to go to the streets and polling booth to secure his culture and land against this foreign invasion of a fascist expansionist political movement dressed up as a ‘religion’.
