Friday

29th Mar 2024

Interview

2018: Juncker: Far-right 'never had a chance' against the EU

Jean-Claude Juncker leaned into his chair at his spacious office at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels.

The former European Commission president had arrived from his home in Luxembourg earlier that morning along with his bodyguard.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

On his desk is an empty but used ashtray, scattered documents, a light blue tie, and a bottle of water. Behind him, shelves stacked with books.

Juncker had set aside some time to discuss with EUobserver the rise and fall of the far-right over the past few years.

He once famously slapped Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban (in jest) on camera, and then called him a dictator.

"I was always calling him privately 'dictator' and so when he came in the room I said 'dictator' and he was used to that," Juncker said.

"He is not a dictator in the real sense of the word, of course. But he is far-right."

During his tenure as commission head, the far-right populist political parties gained in power.

Donald Trump entered office as US president in January 2017, invigorating movements in Europe.

That same month leaders from Austria's Freedom Party, Belgium's Vlaams Belang, the Czech Republic's Dawn of Direct Democracy, and Italy's Northern League, among others, pledged an alliance. It quickly unravelled.

But Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Austria's Freedom Party soon rose to heights of public support seldom previously seen.

France's far-right Marine Le Pen then faced off with Emmanuel Macron in a bid to become president that same year. She lost.

Yet 2018 still managed to consolidate the far-right in ways that could no longer be ignored.

In June, the Northern League's Matteo Salvini was sworn in as Italy's deputy prime minister and minister of the interior.

He had entered into a shaky coalition government with the populist Five Star Movement, on the back of demonising migrants and immigration.

"The day he [Salvini] became a coalition partner in Italy, it took away from his erotic influence on others," said Juncker.

For Juncker, the far-right was a short-lived threat despite the large number of MEPs of similar political stripes elected to the European Parliament.

"They never had a chance to change European policies," he said of Salvini and others like him.

Juncker extends that assessment to Nigel Farage, the then-MEP who had helped usher the UK out of the European Union.

"I had fights with Farage, I liked him as a person," he said.

But he notes Farage's movement was limited to Britain, and that he had little, if any support, inside the European Parliament.

The AfD has since imploded and Austria's Freedom Party's stint in government collapsed in the wake of political scandals.

Salvini, as well as the Dutch firebrand nationalist Geert Wilders, have since turned into historical footnotes.

Out of the bunch, Le Pen remains an outlier, still eyeing the French presidency.

For Juncker, the real threat to the European Union never came from the far-right. Instead, it is rooted in the rule of law.

Much like with Farage, Juncker got along with people politically opposed to him, in countries where the rule of law was being undermined.

He held meetings with leaders of the 'Visegrad Four' countries, composed of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

"I had huge debates with them, bringing them together and often at the eve of the European Council," Juncker said.

"There was not war - but no common ground," he said.

Poland and Hungary would accuse the Juncker commission of unfairly signalling them out for political reasons.

"I have introduced more infringement procedures against Germany than any other member state and they are a Christian Democratic ruled country," countered Juncker.

The animosity against the commission spread onto the streets of Hungary.

The Orban government had plastered images of Juncker and US billionaire philanthropist George Soros all over the country.

Orban sought to depict the two men as behind a mass migration plot aimed at destroying the 'white Christian' European identity.

"I was not really happy about these posters, but I didn't take this too seriously," said Juncker.

When he was Luxembourg's prime minister, he added, he had even met with Soros on Orban's recommendation.

"He [Orban] doesn't remember that he was the one asking me to have a meeting with Soros back in my prime minister's time. So he has changed. I didn't," Juncker concluded.

This article first appeared in EUobserver's latest magazine, 20 years of European journalism & history, which you can now read in full online.
Far-right groups pledge allegiance ahead of elections

Far-right leaders Le Pen, Wilders, Petry and others gathered in Koblenz in the hope of gaining political momentum ahead of national elections this year. The event was met with thousands of protestors.

Hungary to push ahead with 'Stop Soros' law on NGOs

The Hungarian government of Viktor Orban has said it will not wait until Friday, to hear a verdict of European legal experts on human rights, before going ahead with its bill curtailing NGOs who work with migrants.

EUobserved

European democrats, time to wake up

After the mob attack on Washington's Capitol Hill, we have to ask ourselves if it would be possible to see such a march on Brussels? The answer is: Yes. Europe is dealing with the same dark forces.

Interview

2020: EU solidarity tested in face of Covid-19 pandemic

When decisive, coordinated action from EU institutions and member states was most needed to respond to the first coronavirus outbreaks, the bloc struggled to find a common and timely response. What lessons have been learned?

20 years of EUobserver

Our special anniversary magazine gives an overview of the major events of these past 20 years - and, for every event, we talked to one of the key players. It makes this magazine a document of recent EU history.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us