Everyone who lives in Europe knows that some countries are struggling economically to maintain the high living standards that the people were used to. Such a problem was not reflected in the politics of the ruling parties, plans, or even futuristic visions. So, it was expected that people would react accordingly, and with no surprise, they voted for the far-right.

I was not surprised by the election results. For me, the rise of the far-right parties was expected and feasible. The politicians’ failure and their detachment from reality and the people’s real needs were the main result of this.  

Such a result was coming despite all the warnings and the protests that took place before the elections, despite the scandals and the ties with Russia, despite the fact that the far-right is not a fan of the European Union, and despite so many other things. It simply gained support because it knows what the people’s problems are although it doesn’t have any solution to them and there is no feasible program and no concrete plans on how to tackle these problems. It was only able to speak the people’s language and gave them vague hopes. It pointed out the illness but has no cure.

Ironically, the ruling elite finally understood the message of the people and decided to react accordingly to enhance their politics by leaving all the issues that people care about and the problems they suffer from and only focus on the migration issue. As if the economic standards deteriorated because of migration, as if the energy problem was caused by migration, as if the low incomes were the migrants’ fault, and as if many more. Leaving all this and only thinking of how to decrease the migration flow or how to reject asylum seekers or find a third state to host them will not help the people, also be sure that it will not secure more votes next time. The people gave a message by voting for the far right but unfortunately was not understood correctly.

As a migrant, I can see that the far right would gain more supporters in the near future and the way the politicians react now would bring more racism and polarization in society.  I think that the new elections that will take place in France next month will be a good indicator of how things will develop. 

The question is now how this will affect our lives. Not only migrants in Europe but the European Union and Europeans themselves. The only available answer for me is let’s wait and see.