''Eurodroite'' (; en, Euroright) was an alliance of

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

political parties in Europe that took part in the

1979 European Parliament election The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 (at the time) European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the Europea ...

. It did not operate as a political party or a group in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

because it only had 4 seats, all held by the neo-fascist

Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement ( it, Movimento Sociale Italiano, MSI) was a neo-fascist political party in Italy. A far-right party, it presented itself until the 1990s as the defender of Italian fascism's legacy, and later moved towards national ...

. The

Group of the European Right A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

became its formal successor following the

1984 European Parliament election Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

History

Giorgio Almirante Giorgio Almirante (27 June 1914 – 22 May 1988) was an Italian politician, the founder and leader of neo-fascist Italian Social Movement until his retirement in 1987. Early life Almirante was born at Salsomaggiore Terme, in Emilia Romagna, ...

, the president of the neo-fascist

(MSI), envisioned to create an alliance of far-right political parties from Europe. Almirante said that the objective of the alliance would be to "prevent the

shifting to the left" and that it would be strongly

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

. At the founding congress of ''Eurodroite'' on 19 April 1978, Almirante's MSI was also joined by the French

Party of New Forces Parti des forces nouvelles (PFN) or Party of New Forces was a French far-right political party formed in November 1974 from the ''Comité faire front'', a group of anti-Jean-Marie Le Pen dissidents who had split from the National Front (FN). De ...

(PFN) of Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour and New Force (FN) of

Blas Piñar Blas Piñar López (22 November 1918 – 28 January 2014) was a Spanish far right politician. Having connections to Catholic organizations, during the Francoist dictatorship he directed the Institute of Hispanic Culture (''Instituto de Cultura ...

. Shortly before the formation of ''Eurodroite'', Tixier-Vignancour was supposed to be a candidate of

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

's National Front. Another meeting of the ''Eurodroite'' was held on 27 June in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, with about two thousand participants, according to the ''

Le Monde diplomatique ''Le Monde diplomatique'' (meaning "The Diplomatic World" in French) is a French monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. The publication is owned by Le Monde diplomatique SA, a subsidiary com ...

'' newspaper. Left-wing organisations held a counter-protest to the meeting in Paris. Le Pen was critical of the ''Eurodroite'' project because of the participation of PFN. In the

, MSI was the only party from the ''Eurodroite'' that crossed the threshold, obtaining four seats. It was thus unable to form a group in the European Parliament. The ''Eurodroite'' alliance was succeeded in 1984, when the

was officially formed. FN and the National Political Union (EPEN) of former military dictator

Georgios Papadopoulos Geórgios Papadopoulos (; el, Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος ; 5 May 1919 – 27 June 1999) was a Greeks, Greek military officer and political leader who ruled Greece as a military dictator from 1967 to 1973. He joined the Hellenic ...

were members of this new group, while PFN was replaced by Le Pen's National Front.

Ideology

The ''Eurodroite'' was a far-right alliance composed of neo-fascist parties. It opposed the rise of Eurocommunism.

Members

The following parties were members of the ''Eurodroite'' alliance. The FN and EPEN did not contest the 1979 election, as Spain and Greece were not yet member states of the European Union.

References

{{Italian Social Movement 1978 establishments in Europe 1984 disestablishments in Europe Anti-communist parties Eurosceptic parties Far-right political parties Italian Social Movement Neo-fascist organizations Pan-European political parties Political parties disestablished in 1984 Political parties established in 1978

History

Ideology

Members

See also

References