Sunday, June 7, 2009

Sad day for British politics

Apparently, today is a sad day for British politics. That is how Sir Robert Atkins referred to the British National Party's (BNP) success at the EU elections.

Why so? Because the BNP is a far-right party with no non-white members. It won two seats in the EU Parliament at an election whose preliminary figures suggest the lowest turnout ever. In other words, the small percentage of people who cast their votes today supported the BNP's extremism. Wait, that sounds familiar.

The National Union Attack, the far-right party in Bulgaria, has been winning a big percentage of the popular vote. It has openly expressed itself against the rights of Roma minorities. According to Novinite Ataka holds three seats in the 2009 EU Parliament with three far-right deputies elected as MEPs.

Interestingly enough, the 2009 EU elections saw great gains in far-right votes across Europe. According to the Telegraph centre-Right parties constitute the biggest group holding 276 seats out of 736 in the European Parliament. It wasn't just the U.K. and Bulgaria. It was anti-immigrant and far-right groups from the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Slovakia and Finland.

Not sure about the U.K., but could it be a sad day for EU politics?

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