If you don’t pay attention to international elections, you’re missing out on the ideological shapeshifting happening globally.
Following Britain’s recently confirmed secession from the European Union and the victory of President Donald Trump in our election, nationalist beliefs have exploded.
When the Dutch went to the polls on March 15, turnout was at a 31-year high, as 82 percent of eligible voters cast a vote. Populist and Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders jumped from a third place finish in 2012 to a second place finish in 2017. Wilders, who is staunchly anti-Islam and anti-EU, saw a 33 percent increase in seats compared to 5 years ago.
On April 23, France will have its general election, and to the surprise of absolutely no one who has been paying attention, National Front leader Marine Le Pen has surged to a lead in the latest first round election poll. Le Pen is currently polling at 26.5 percent but is expected to lose in the May 7 runoff. Personally, I take final poll projections run by anyone other than Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway with a massive grain of salt after the beating pollsters took Nov. 8.
Like Wilders and President Trump, Le Pen favors the sovereignty of individual nations while expressing extreme support for the rule of law and being forthright regarding the savagery of open borders globalization sans assimilation.
Support for Le Pen has risen amid the global refugee crisis, and the fallout of the EU’s failed migrant policies have been swift. According to international polling and market research firm IFOP, six in 10 French residents no longer feel safe anywhere in their country because of the bleak security outlook blanketing the EU. In fact, Le Pen verbally smacked down German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her open-door refugee policy at a Parliament meeting in February. Merkel’s disastrous policy has lead to an extreme uptick in sexual offenses and will cost Germany roughly $37 billion by the end of 2017.
According to the nonpartisan Gatestone Institute, an international policy council, migrants in Germany committed 2,790 sex crimes, or 10 per day over the first three quarters of 2016. Gatestone also highlights a quote from German police union head Andre Schulz that hypothesizes the actual number of migrant-related sex crimes is likely two to three times higher as only 10 percent of crimes appear in the official statistics. By comparison, only 599 sex crimes were committed by migrants in 2013.
Le Pen is rightfully hostile toward the EU, fuming over the fact that the French electorate has little to no say in determining their budgetary priorities. France’s NATO membership is also targeted by Le Pen, as she claims the international military alliance exists only to “serve Washington’s objectives.”
She has openly declared her wishes for a French secession from the EU and a return to the franc as the nation’s currency. In a February interview with The Daily Telegraph, Le Pen stated, “The euro is not a currency. It is a political weapon to force countries to implement the policies decided by the EU and keep them on a leash.”
A dismissal of the euro and “Frexit” would be yet another slap in the face to the globalist movement, which seeks to destroy cultures through migratory submersion.
Marine Le Pen very well could become the first female President and the second female to achieve a true political power position in France, joining Edith Cresson who served as the country’s Prime Minister from 1991-1992. French people — and people worldwide — are standing up for their rights as citizens, and electing a leader like Le Pen would send a message that individual citizens and countries matter.
I’m with her.
Christopher Godail is a 27-year-old interdisciplinary studies major from Kenner, Louisiana.