Historical legacies and national political contexts have shaped today’s far-right in Eastern and Central Europe

The far-right is in the ascendency right across Europe, with parties like France’s National Front, Greece’s Golden Dawn, and Hungary’s Jobbik seeing impressive electoral gains. But while parties in Western Europe do so by resorting to arguments about immigration and other cultural issues, the rise of these parties in former communist states is tied more closely with national political context and the transition from communism itself, according to Andrea L.P. Pirro.