The European Far Right

Support for extreme nationalist parties is patchy across Europe, but their numbers have swelled - fueled largely by unemployment and massive foreign immigration from Africa, the Arab world and more recently from the eastern and former Yugoslav states. The Far Right is also virulently anti-European Union. Despite their electoral gains, so far, no Far Right party except Joerg Haider's has come close to joining government or maintaining consistent electoral success. However, with unemployment in Europe still high, with rampant change and EU enlargement feeding public insecurities - there is no room for complacency among democrats. Most experts agree the danger level for extremism disrupting democracy comes when such parties start scoring 10-15 percent of the vote in elections.

Belgium

The anti-immigrant Vlaams Blok calls for the expulsion of foreigners: It's leader, Filip Dewinter are virtually interchangeable politicians who consider immigrants as criminals. The party got 9.8 percent in last year's federal elections and is the third largest party in the Flanders region. Other parties keep their distance from Vlaams and parliament has passed laws against racist incitement. Parties with a racist platform can have funds confiscated and politicians spreading hatred can be barred from elections. However, last year Belgium temporarily restored some border controls as part of a campaign to halt the flow of illegal immigrants. Human rights activists worry that such moves, combined with victories like that of Haider's Freedom Party, could strengthen existing far-right movements

Czech Republic

The Republican Party in the Czech Republic has had to build up its support base and party structure from scratch. Jan Vik, an MP for the Republican Party, told a reporter recently: "We don't like seeing the so-called waves of migration from various East European countries, Asia, Africa and so on - because even with the best will [in the world] we've got enough problems of our own, for example with our gypsies. And we don't see why they should be reinforced from Romania, Ukraine and I don't know where else."

The Czech Republican Party accuses the EU of imperialism and argues that the country should not move away from the Eastern Moscow bloc to turn 180 degrees and do the bidding of a Western bloc.

Denmark

The anti-immigrant People's Party gets nearly 16 percent in polls.

France

Jean-Marie Le Pen's Front National, founded in 1972, is the most established Far Right party on the European scene. It won 11 percent of the vote in 1984, raising democratic alarm everywhere. In 1995 Le Pen won 15 percent in the presidential election. His main preoccupation is immigration sold with a xenophobic message that feeds on poor working class fears of job loss. The party was disrupted in 1998 when Le Pen's number two split off to form a new party, Mouvement National Republicain. The split has left the Far Right considerably weaker in France. But the Austrian Freedom Party's success has roused Le Pen . Despite quarrels with Haider in the past, he has denounced European Union efforts to isolate Austria.

Germany

With the aid of the Allies, West Germany established strong democratic traditions after the defeat of Hitler's Nazi Reich. .But Eastern Germany developed no such roots, moving from fascist dictatorship to Communist dictatorship. Union of the west with the east has brought the latter's problems with it - lower living standards and mass unemployment - typical ground for breeding resentment, xenophobia and right wing extremism.

The Far Right has seats in four of the 16 states - Baden-Wurttemberg, Bremen, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt. The main groups are:

• The German People's Union (DVU). Founded in 1987 by Gerhard Frey, a wealthy publisher. from Munich. It. won 13 percent of the vote and 16 seats in Saxony-Anhalt in 1998 after preaching that foreigners endangered jobs and were responsible for crime. It runs two newspapers Deutsche National-Zeitung and Deutsche Wochen-Zeitung. Xenophobic, it blames foreigners for crime and unemployment and Jews for "harping on" about the Nazi past, and for immigrating "in masses" from the former communist east.

• The Republicans (REP), founded 1983, have a representative in Baden-Wurttemberg parliament. About 15,000 members.

• The National Democratic Party (NDP). The group that led the march of protests through Berlin to protests against the new Shoah memorial. It has about 6,500 members.

Italy

The Northern League won 10 percent of the vote in 1996 on a strong anti-immigrant platform. An official called Joerg Haider the Leagues "north polar star,' leading the way of the Far Right. Il Duce's granddaughter hailed Haider's arrival in government and called him a decent person. "Leftists are racists," she said. "The EU should tell us who to vote for and send all those who voted for the Freedom Party to jail.

Norway

The Party of Progress opposes all immigration from non-European cultures. It received 15 percent of the vote in the last national elections in 1997.

Russia

In Russia the extreme nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, is a crude politician who uses crude anti-Semitism. Zhirinovsky has tried to forge links with Far Rightists across Europe including nationalist Serbs. He also tried to enter Belgium and Germany-but has been refused visas. There are some signs of co-operation among such facilitated by the Internet, but much conspiracy theory remains hype and few extremists are sufficient competent to produce sophisticated scenarios for winning power. "I can see far right skinheads from a variety of countries getting together and saying 'let's all be horrible together,' and the media will focus on two hundred shaven-headed thugs and say 'There's the New Europe'. That's rubbish, its not true," said one expert academic.

Slovakia

Slovakia has not been invited to join NATO and has been put into the slow track of EU membership, in part because of the government's curtailment of the cultural and language rights of the Hungarian minority. Hungarians in Slovakia were not an issue while Hungary and then Czechoslovakia were both members of the Eastern bloc. The radical nationalist Slovak National Party was invited to join the ruling coalition in 1994, and has been there ever since. The Slovak National Party maintains the Hungarian minority enjoy a privileged status.

Switzerland

The Swiss People's Party (SVP of Christoph Blocher was founded in 1971. It's main themes are curb immigration, cut taxes and keep Switzerland out of the EU. In October's parliamentary elections it won the most votes - up from 15 percent to 23 percent. It ran a viciously xenophobic campaign with posters showing nasty looking foreigners ripping up the national flag. It has moved from being a mainly rural party to mainstream with a national campaign to toughen asylum laws.