PerspectiveRight-Wing Extremism: The Russian Connection
Over the past eight years, one of Russia’s more effective strategies to weaken the West, subvert liberal democratic societies, sabotage the U.S.-created post-WWII world order, and facilitate the expansion of Russian influence has been to provide active support – at times overt, often covert — to various far-right, ethnonationalist, and populist political parties and movements. Russia has been providing support not only to political parties and movements. As part of its effort to undermine the West and weaken democracies, the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence, has been supporting an assortment of violent, white supremacist groups in many European countries: fight clubs, neo-Nazi soccer hooligans, motorcycle gangs, skin heads, and neo-fascist rock groups. These groups are serving as conduits for the Kremlin’s influence operations in Western countries.
Over the past eight years, one of Russia’s more effective strategies to weaken the West, subvert liberal democratic societies, sabotage the U.S.-created post-WWII world order, and facilitate the expansion of Russian influence has been to provide active support – at times overt, often covert — to various far-right, ethnonationalist, and populist political parties and movements. Among the more notable cases: Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany; Marine Le Pen’s National Rally ( Rassemblement national; formerly Front national) in France; Geert Wilders’s Dutch Freedom Party (PVV); the Austrian Party for Freedom (FPÖ); the Norwegian Progress Party (FrP); Matteo Salvini’s Italian Lega Nord (LN) in Italy; the Sweden Democrats (SD); Vox in Spain; both Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz and the anti-Semitic Jobbik in Hungary; Vlaams Belang in Belgium; Sweden Democrats in Sweden; Golden Dawn in Greece; Ataka in Bulgaria; the Danish People’s Party in Denmark; and True Finns in Finland (Steve Bannon, who was Donald Trump’s political strategist in the 2016 campaign, two years ago launched a new group, called The Movement, with headquarters in Brussels, aiming to fashion greater cooperation and coordination among these various populist, Russia-supported European groups).
Russia has been providing support not only to political parties and movements. As part of its effort to undermine the West and weaken democracies, the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence, has been supporting an assortment of violent, white supremacist groups in many European countries: fight clubs, neo-Nazi soccer hooligans, motorcycle gangs, skin heads, and neo-fascist rock groups. These groups are serving as conduits for the Kremlin’s influence operations in Western countries.
Shelby Butt and Daniel Byman write in Survival that:
· “Russia is cultivating extreme right-wing support to undermine the West, using a variety of actors to woo different partners. … One of Moscow’s most pernicious efforts is its support for white-supremacist and other far-right groups, encouraging them with propaganda, providing them with a haven, and otherwise making them stronger and more dangerous.”
· “At this point, Russia is not seeking to inspire white supremacists to commit mass murder in the West, but its efforts to stir the pot and support or tolerate extremists are likely to lead to an increase in violence and create significant long-term risks.”
· “Shaming and exposing Russia itself is worth doing, but the world should not expect significant change in Moscow’s conduct. … Given the limited scope for modifying Russia’s behavior, it would make sense for Western partners to mount concerted efforts to directly target seditious organizations that have accepted Russian training…. Beyond targeting Russia and the outfits it supports, U.S. and allied counter-terrorism organizations must recognize the wide variety of other actors involved and tailor their responses to their actions.”
· “Treating violent right-wing groups with international links like genuine terrorists is another important policy measure. The United States rarely designates such organizations as terrorist groups, even if they have international connections. So designating them would make it illegal for individuals or organizations to finance, join or otherwise support these groups, depriving them of resources and affording investigators and prosecutors significantly greater leverage.”
· “Finally, the right-wing threat warrants increases in the resources flowing to the FBI and other law-enforcement and intelligence agencies for counter-radicalization programs.”
