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The rise of populist and anti-globalization sovereignty movements has been a defining feature of the past decade in Europe, from the Brexit vote to the emergence of new political parties across the continent.

Populist parties have existed in many European countries for decades, but apart from some, such as the Austrian Freedom Party under Jrg Haider in the early 2000s, few have enjoyed widespread popular support or held power within a national government before 2010.

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The 2010s, triggered in large part by the 2015 European migrant crisis which saw more than a million asylum seekers flock to Europe after German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened borders, saw the creation or rise of anti-migration parties and movements whose main objective is sovereignty. for their nations.

In the UK, the Brexit movement saw its first big victory in the 2014 European Parliament elections when the UK Independence Party (UKIP) led by Nigel Farage became the first party other than Labor or Conservative to win a national election since 1906.

Farage: Let June 23 go down in history as our Independence Day https://t.co/XC1oCOHf8r pic.twitter.com/5vYmTJYDlp

Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 24, 2016

The victory largely influenced Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron to call for a referendum on joining the European Union which saw 14.7 million people vote to leave the EU, so that Cameron resigns and Theresa May ends replace it.

While Prime Minister Theresa May spent years without success negotiating an EU exit deal that Parliament would approve, 2019 saw a second wave of Brexit victories, including another victory in the European Parliament elections for Nigel Farage, this time with the Brexit Party, and the national elections in December which saw a strong conservative majority for Boris Johnson who promised to finally deliver Brexit by the end of January 2020.

In Austria, the 2010s were a roller coaster for the Freedom Party (FP) which was able to win votes in each election until 2017, when the party, under the leadership of Heinz-Christian Strache, was able to form a coalition with the Austrian Peoples Party and its leader Sebastian Kurz.

AUSTRIA ELECTS LIVE WIRE: Exit polls indicate leftist parties suffer historic losses https://t.co/i5En2fbPUg pic.twitter.com/bBKHVKH5ay

Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 15, 2017

The coalition represented the first time that the FP had been part of a national government since Haiders time in the early 2000s. But the government, despite its popularity, was overthrown due to a scandal known as the Ibiza affair which led to the resignation of Strache as vice-chancellor and head of the FP.

The FP did not match its 2017 performance with its new leader and former presidential candidate Norbert Hofer, but remains an established force in Austrian politics.

Germany, which was the focal point of the migrant crisis due to the actions of Chancellor Merkel, saw the creation of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2013.

After the migrant crisis, the AfD recorded massive gains in regional elections, even defeating Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in its home state, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in September 2016.

The party had another solid result in the national elections in Germany in 2017, winning 12.6% of the vote and 94 seats in the German parliament and became the official opposition after the CDU formed a grand coalition with the social democrats. .

Massive anti-migration alternative for Germany now the most popular party in East Germany https://t.co/SmXf4FxN7a

Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 8, 2018

The AfD has become incredibly popular in former East Germany, recently showing strong performance in Brandenburg and Saxony in 2019 and at least one 2018 poll showed the party to be the most popular in the region.

For Hungary, the 2010s were undoubtedly the decade of Viktor Orban who has seen electoral victory after electoral victory since he became Prime Minister in 2010.

The Hungarian leader has also successfully led a campaign against the NGO empire of the left-wing American-Hungarian billionaire George Soros, who announced that he would move his foundations of the open society (OSF) from Budapest to Berlin in 2018.

Considered an example by many other pro-sovereignty parties in Europe, Orbans resistance to mass migration by building a very effective border barrier at the end of 2015 and the pro-family and pro-Christian policies of his Fidesz party influenced others across Europe.

Italian Senator Matteo Salvini, who transformed the Italian Northern Separatist League, formerly the Northern League, into a national force and entered government after the 2018 national elections alongside the anti-establishment of the Five Star Movement in as Italian Minister of the Interior.

Salvini leads the Lega to the first historic victory in the national elections https://t.co/h35QrrGWbg

Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 27, 2019

What Urban succeeded in doing on land, Salvini set out to do the same at sea and considerably reduced the number of illegal migrants entering the country by restricting access to the port to migrant transport NGOs operating in the area search and rescue (SAR) off the coast of Libya. , thereby reducing the number of migrant deaths.

Salvini also promised to enact similar family-friendly policies that would allow Italians with large families to receive land grants in rural areas of the country.

However, the five-star League and Movement coalition was not to last with disagreements after Salvinis victory in the 2019 European Parliament elections, which led to its collapse in August.

The popularity of the League has remained constant since it left government, while the five-star movement, winner of the 2018 elections, has experienced a dramatic decline and only about a third of Italians support the current left-wing coalition. Five star democratic party as a migrant. transport NGOs have been given the green light to operate again.

Marine Le Pen, a close ally of Salvini, also experienced a dramatic increase in popularity in the 2010s and while she finished second behind Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 presidential election, her party is now still in first place place with Macrons La Rpublique en Marche! (LREM) in the polls and beat Macron in the 2019 European elections.

Le Pen triumphs over Macron in an exit poll from the EU elections and calls for new national elections https://t.co/MX9PTsLkMY

Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 26, 2019

Le Pen also succeeded in transforming the National Front into a major political force and, in 2018, renamed the party as the National Rally (RN).

While Germany received the largest number of migrants in total during the 2015 migration crisis, Sweden received the largest number of migrants per capita.

The Swedish populist Democrats (SD), led by Jimmie kesson, have grown dramatically over the past decade due to their criticism of mass migration and their firm stance on the growing trend of violent crime among gangs rampant in the country, which has seen a recent increase in bombing and explosions.

In 2010, the SD won only 5.7% of the vote in the national elections and managed to become the largest party in the country in a recent poll which placed the party at 24%, ahead of the ruling Social Democrats. .

VOX in Spain was one of the youngest populist parties in Europe to have achieved electoral success; it was formed in December 2013 and rose from just 0.2% in the 2016 national elections to become the third Spanish party in 2019 to win 15.1. percent of the vote and 52 seats in the Spanish Parliament.

Spain: populists make massive gains, Salvini predicts racist smears by the media https://t.co/jiZzse9tlT

Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 11, 2019

VOX is both anti-mass migration and pro-national sovereignty, but one of their most notable positions has been their intense opposition to the independence of Catalonia.

In 2019, shortly before their election, VOX leader Santiago Abascal told Breitbart London that he not only opposes the independence movement, but that he will also seek to make the separatist parties in Spain illegal.

The 2010s were the best years to date for the pro-sovereignty populist movement with several parties ending the decade as the most popular in their respective countries.

Whether or not he is currently in power or looking for gains in the next national elections, the populist movement has become an established political force throughout Europe, making the 2010s the decade of populism.

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The 2010s have been the best decade for European populism to date - Daily Gaming Worlld