Parliamentary elections in the Slovak Republic on Sunday saw a strong win by the opposition Ordinary People party, which gathered nearly a quarter of all votes, reflecting public anger at the corruption scandals that had come to mark the outgoing government of Peter Pellegrini. Another surprise was the worse-than-expected performance by the far-right People’s Party, led by former neo-Nazi Marian Kotleba, which saw its vote share decline. The decline in the far-right’s votes, marginal as it may be, was believed to be the result of a strong mobilization of liberal voters, who turned out on the day to stall the extreme right wing. Slovakia is not the first place in Europe where, after nearly five years of a seemingly incessant march toward power, far-right parties have begun to stumble, or at least their rise seems to have paused. The rise of extreme right-wing parties on the continent is now nearly a decade old. Its origins could perhaps be detected in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial meltdown that severely impacted several European nations, nearly sinking Greece, Spain and Portugal. The crisis saw unprecedented layoffs and a resultant spike in unemployment and poverty rates, which had not been seen in these and other European nations since the end of the Second World War. While European governments were still battling the financial crisis, the continent was hit by another major issue that acted as perhaps an even greater reason for the rise of the extreme right wing. Over a period of at least five years, from 2011, several million refugees from various crisis-ridden regions of the world turned up at the borders of Europe, and most of them managed to get inside the territory. As most of these refugees were fleeing wars in their home countries in Africa and Asia, several European governments, notably those in Germany and Sweden, adopted a humane approach and offered shelter to many. The open-door policy that some European leaders adopted in this period is believed to be the primary reason for the far-right’s rise. The extremists, like Alternative for Germany (AfD), began driving a fear of immigrants in the minds of the local populace, saying that migrants would steal their jobs, destroy the “Christian” culture of Europe and even rape their women. They also accused migrants of being sympathizers of Daesh, with a string of terrorist attacks in several countries in Europe only adding fuel to these outrageous claims. The impact of these incidents and the mounting far-right propaganda propelled these parties to a string of impressive electoral performances across Europe. AfD recorded the sharpest rise in popularity, becoming the second-largest party in some German states, notably in the former East Germany. In neighboring Austria, another far-right party, the Freedom Party, entered government for the first time in December 2017 in a coalition with the center-right Austrian People’s Party, led by Sebastian Kurz, who became the youngest head of government in the world. In Italy, a similar story played out, with Matteo Salvini’s Northern League forming an unlikely coalition with the extreme left and populist Five Star Movement. In many other nations, the far right also came threateningly close to power. In a way, its rise seems to have peaked with the elections to the European Parliament in March last year, when the far-right group became the second-largest in the parliament. In several countries, notably France, it emerged with the highest number of votes. Since then, the extremists have suffered a series of setbacks across the EU. The coalitions in Italy and Austria crumbled, and now the far-right parties in both these countries are sitting in opposition. Similarly, in Switzerland, the far right suffered reverses in October’s elections, while Germany’s AfD underperformed in several regional votes, failing to match the opinion polls that seemed to indicate a continued rise in support. The far right’s rise seems to have peaked with the elections to the European Parliament in March last year. Ranvir S. Nayar Economics could be one of the main reasons behind the plateauing of the growth of Europe’s extreme right wing. Robust economic growth in several European nations over the last four years has led to a dramatic turnaround in the sentiments in these nations. The revival of the economy has seen unemployment fall sharply, notably in Spain and Greece, and also led to a feel-good factor. The pause in the far-right wave is also perhaps due to the rise of other mainstream parties, which have come to replace the traditional parties that were discredited in several European nations. For instance, the Greens are now the second-largest force in Germany, having displaced the Social Democrats. The far-right tide may have ebbed, but it is far from dead. Europe needs to be vigilant to ensure that the dreadful events of the 1930s are never repeated again. Ranvir S. Nayar is the editor of Media India Group, a global platform based in Europe and India that encompasses publishing, communication and consultation services. Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view