This piece is from @gideonrachman, the Financial Times’ chief foreign affairs commentator (I believe it’s paywalled.) For an extended academic discussion of these issues, see my piece, “Political Fragmentation in the Democracies of the West.” From Rachman:

“Political groups that were once dismissed as fringe far-right parties are gaining popularity — and in some places power. Viktor Orbán of Hungary is now the longest-serving EU leader. Giorgia Meloni has just completed her first year as Italy’s prime minister. Robert Fico, a populist who dabbles with far-right themes, is back as prime minister of Slovakia. The Sweden Democrats are the second-largest party in parliament and support the governing coalition. The far right is also gaining ground in Germany and France. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) now regularly tops 20 per cent support in the polls, making it the second most popular party in Germany. On a recent trip to London, François Hollande, the former French president, told me that in his country “the far right have devoured the traditional right”. Polls suggest Marine Le Pen may finally win the French presidency in 2027.

All this inevitably brings backs memories and fears of how the far right destroyed European democracy in the interwar years. But the evidence so far is that the modern European far right can work within democracies, without destroying them.”