The history of Kosovo is a banner under which the international far right assembles. Western politicians would do well to understand its dangers.
In June, Le Figaro magazine ran what may have appeared to be a relatively innocuous story about Serbs living in Kosovo 20 years on from the NATO intervention there. The report prompted politicians and pundits from France’s far right to make loud claims about their country supposedly becoming like Kosovo. They made particular reference to the banlieues, which host significant minority populations in France.
Absurd though the comparison may seem, it rests on three narratives, all of which are popular among the far right in its networks throughout Europe. These narratives internationally have led to violence – and they are phenomena of which political leaders should be aware, both so that they can understand what the far right are thinking and saying, and so they can guard their own flank against contagion of far-right ideas.
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