II SÉRIE-D — NÚMERO 18

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Thank you, Chair,

Dear colleagues,

The influence of extreme-right parties and movements has grown together with

the influence and sophistication of internet and social networks. It is through those

channels that citizens are flooded with disinformation, fake news, manipulation, and

radicalisation.

That’s why this report is so important and must be followed. It highlights the

dangers of the extreme-right movements to our democracies, to the stability of our

nations, to the strength and cohesion of the European Union and the humanistic

values we defend in the Council of Europe.

Our societies are more polarised than ever, because digital platforms amplify

the anger, revolt, and anxiety that are fed by the extreme-right movements and parties, in a circular flow of

destructive energies, arming seriously the capacity for political dialogue and co-operation, paving through the

way to reach power in a perverse and dishonest manner.

As in totalitarian regimes, the extremists transform adversaries into enemies to better drag people to their

propaganda. And the enemies are the democratic institutions, the European Union, the left political movements,

migrants, Gypsies, and other minorities. They claim for an impossible nationalism and pure identity in a world full

of colonisers and colonised people and composed since ever by migrant flows. They urge to racism and

xenophobia and legitimate racists and xenophobes and hate speech.

They are a threat to the European Union project, build to reject the clash of nationalisms and identities,

promoting instead the dialogue and co-operation. They block decisions in the European Union with dramatic

consequences at the level of migrations, preventing to save lives in the Mediterranean. They are killing the

meaning of humanism and solidarity.

Extremist movements are or were often financed by Russia, responsible for the unacceptable violation of the

United Nations Charter and for all kinds of war crimes in Ukraine. Although they are trying hard to seem respectful

and acceptable, we must not forget that their inspiration came from fascist and authoritarian ideologies.

In my country, Portugal, the extreme-right say they want to found a new republic, they reject the authority of

the chairman of the parliament, their militants make sieges to political parties, their parliamentarians undertake

provocative actions in demonstration organised by left wing parties, and, as the Constitutional Court stated, their

internal statutes are anti-democratic.

Here, in the Council of Europe, and in our member states, we must raise our voice to defend tolerance,

inclusive and pluralistic societies, if needed with sanitary measures. Fighting extreme-right ideology is a moral

duty for all democrats, if we want to prevent the degradation of our democracies.

Thank you.

A Deputada Isabel Moreira (PS) participou no debate com a seguinte

intervenção:

Thank you, Chair.

The firm fight against the violation of human rights today once again in history

involves the fight against the extreme rights.

The extreme right waves the flag of security, when in fact it only wants the

security of a few, as it has always done throughout history. So we, the democrats,

have to recover the security speech, knowing how to explain that fascism is the

land of security for some, an insecurity for almost all. As we saw in the invasion of the capital, as we saw in the

eyes of the bodies of victims of hate and discrimination, as seen in the targets of a manufactured coward social

polarisation that weakens before the strong and is so strong against women, racialised people, LGBT people,

immigrants, and migrants.