IS WESTERN DEMOCRACY UNDER THREAT?

As the war in Ukraine grinds on into its twentieth month and the relentless toll of death and destruction spirals, many people must be scratching their heads in wonder at the election in Slovakia in September of a pro-Russian prime minister, who has vowed not to send a “single round” of ammunition to Ukraine. Former communist party member Robert Fico has been Slovakia’s prime minister three times before. His centre left Smer party is now likely to form a coalition government with the moderate Hlas party and the pro-Russian Slovak National party (SNS). Fico is an ardent admirer of Vladimir Putin and in his fourth term as Slovakia’s PM is expected to mimic the antics of his populist neighbour Viktor Orbán in Hungary, by launching an assault on his country’s independent judiciary and the media, whom he refers to as “dirty anti-Slovak prostitutes”. Like Orbán, Fico will cause ructions in the EU, in particular over his pledge to veto Ukraine’s application to join NATO. The leader of the socialist group in the European Parliament has already threatened to expel Fico and Smer unless he relents.

The emergence of authoritarian, populist and fiercely anti-migrant leaders like Orbán and Fico in the EU and Donald Trump in America, appears to fly in the face of democracy and the rule of law and undermine the basic principles of human rights. What is driving millions of often young people to cast their votes for such illiberal autocrats? Now, even Poland, one of Zelensky’s key allies, has announced that due to a dispute over grain exports, it will no longer send arms to Kyiv. As cracks begin to appear in the EU’s cohesive approach to the conflict in Ukraine, a group of Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who want to end Washington’s support for the war-torn country, have voted to derail a massive aid package for Volodymyr Zelensky. It is an ominous sign of what might happen if Trump returns to power next year, particularly after his praise for Putin whom he described as a “genius” for annexing Crimea. He even publicly echoed Kremlin propaganda by claiming “the rest of Ukraine will fall…fairly quickly.”

The European Movement International, an organisation co-funded by the EU, has been carrying out extensive polling in 18 EU Member States for the past 5 years, to try to find out what encourages voters to support politicians who seem to have a contempt for democracy. Their findings are disturbing. In countries like Bulgaria, Spain, Greece, Austria, France, and Hungary, more than half the people polled expressed the view that they had lost faith in their country’s future prospects and felt left behind in a sea of growing inequality. After Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the majority viewed the world as increasingly dangerous and clamoured for what they regarded as the strong leadership of anti-elite authoritarians; people who spewed hate-filled rhetoric and offered simplistic solutions and scapegoats for the social and economic challenges being faced by many. It is as if history is repeating itself and the lessons of the 1930’s have never been learned. Trust in governments and democracy is at an all-time low, providing a fertile breeding ground for authoritarian manipulation and growing resentment of elected representatives. Trumps cries of “drain the swamp” now can be heard in European capitals. The European Movement International found that support for democracy had fallen below 50% if every one of the countries it analysed. Germany has experienced an 18% decline in support for democracy since 2019, down from 56% to 38%.

The UK has not escaped this escalating trend. On the hard-left, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn referred to the Middle East terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends”. He opposed military action against Bashar al-Assad in Syria and demanded an arms embargo against the Middle East’s one functioning democracy, Israel. A lifelong CND supporter he pledged to scrap Trident and the UK’s nuclear deterrent. He said the management of the Falkland Islands should be handed over to a joint administration between the UK and Argentina and he backed the re-unification of Ireland. Despite, or possibly because of these extremist views, Corbyn gained cult-like status, particularly with many young people and was even invited to address the Glastonbury Festival. 

On the hard-right, Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman has attacked multiculturalism and labelled migrants as an existential threat to western civilisation. She has threatened to take the UK out of the European court of human rights (ECHR) so that she can send refugees and asylum seekers to Rwanda. Meanwhile, in echoes of Trump, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, darling of the Tory right, has described net zero targets as “unilateral economic disarmament”. Braverman and Badenoch are both milking populist support while vying for the Tory leadership. Meanwhile, desperate to restore her credibility, former transitory prime minister Liz Truss, told a jam-packed fringe meeting at the Tory Conference that she would “Make Britain Grow Again”, shamelessly lifting a campaign slogan straight from the Donald Trump playbook – “Make America Great Again.” It was hardly surprising to see one of the people enthusiastically applauding her at the meeting was none other than arch populist and Trump devotee Nigel Farage.

It is all very depressing. Our commitment to democracy is not as strong as we once may have assumed. We desperately need a new generation of policymakers who will tackle inequality and make citizens feel that they are front and centre of government policy. We need inclusive policies to support those who are most in need in our society, combined with better investment in education and vocational training that will open up opportunities for all. Democracy does not end at the ballot box and citizens need to feel that their voice still counts once the election is over. 

Our political leaders must stand against monsters like Putin and remain steadfastly in support of Ukraine. Those who waver towards supporting populist politicians should remember the words of Winston Churchill who said: “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”