Centrists need to do their homework
The Kleine Zeitung looks for reasons for the rise of populist parties:
“Is this still a 'wake-up election' because people want to send a message to those who have been in government? Or do so many people really feel so bad about the way they live that they consider turning their backs on the EU and all its advantages, turning towards the Russian warmongers and ending support for Ukraine to be a better way of life? ... It is the task of the democratic forces to counteract this attitude. Loudly parroting empty slogans that go down well with voters will get Europe nowhere. The continent needs real solutions, not marketing gimmicks or empty promises. The populists have done their homework well - now it's up to the centrist parties.”
Young men changing Europe's political map
La Vanguardia comments:
“Right-wing populist forces are on the rise ... A European study has confirmed that these parties are increasingly recruiting young men. ... A fundamental phenomenon is shaking Europe: the gender gap, the societal gap and factors such as job insecurity and positive discrimination policies are gaining traction, making young people insecure and causing them to vote for extremist options. These generations are changing the political map of Europe with worrying and perhaps irreversible consequences. If the traditional parties don't come up with credible alternatives soon, the gaps will only widen.”
Victory for cosmopolitan Europeans
El País breathes a sigh of relief:
“The European idea can withstand the Eurosceptic far right when it succeeds in mobilising voters, as the presidential elections in Romania and Poland have shown. ... The old polarisation between right and left is being overlaid by the polarisation between a nationalist, anti-Brussels retreat and closer union among Europeans. The former is represented by far-right forces that dream of applying the authoritarian programmes of Trump or Putin in their own countries. The second is represented by cosmopolitan and liberal-minded personalities who are mayors of their capitals for good reason.”
Voters feel that no one represents them
Classic left-right classifications are becoming less relevant, Delfi columnist Vidas Rachlevičius concludes:
“The political models that emerged in the 20th century but are now disintegrating are no longer able to represent the interests of voters in the 21st century. ... The classic antagonism between left and right was based primarily on economic policy issues: the role of the state, tax redistribution, labour rights. ... Today, political debates are increasingly about cultural and identity-related issues: attitudes towards migration, climate change, European integration, gender policy and the like. Many voters - on both the left and right - no longer feel represented.”
EU not the promised land for many
Poorly paid workers are expressing their dissatisfaction at the polls, NRC warns:
“Western Europe's prosperity rests to a considerable extent on people who gain relatively little from it and are squeezed like lemons. There has been much talk recently about Russian disinformation and Moscow's cunning use of armies of paid trolls and influencers to stoke resentment. And rightly so. ... What is less prominently addressed is the breeding ground itself. For people at the bottom of the labour market ladder, the EU is not the promised land. They hear about democracy, freedom and the rule of law, but wonder: for whom?”