The attempted assassination of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico marks a worrying shift in violence committed against elected officials in Europe.
Political violence seems to be increasing in Europe. The attack on Wednesday against the Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, marks a shift not seen for a long time. For several years, Member States have noticed an increase in acts and the degree of their seriousness.
“It is true that on the one hand we see in the electoral results a rise in extremes, radical forces, on the right and on the left, with increasingly uninhibited political language, in verbal violence, in ad hominem attacks. , also in the political debate“, notes Eric Maurice, analyst at the European Policy Centre.
He also notes “radicalization, polarization of society and difficulty in debating with political adversaries“.
Since the start of the year, Germany has recorded 22 attacks against politicians, including Social Democratic MEP Matthias Ecke. Physical or verbal violence against elected officials or representatives has almost doubled in five years in the country. According to the German Federal Police, 2,790 crimes were committed last year.
The phenomenon is identical in France. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 2,265 complaints or reports were recorded in 2022, an increase of 32% compared to 2021. And according to the authorities, the year 2023 is even more worrying since it is 2,387 affected, sometimes violent during the first three trimesters.
However, the factors of this violence are multidimensional.
“There are also the social conditions in which this atmosphere progresses. Why are many citizens, many people sensitive to disinformation or at least to conspiracy theories, for example? It’s because they no longer have confidence in the authorities. Why do they no longer have confidence in the authorities? “, asks Eric Maurice.
“This is a very complex question. There is the feeling of vulnerability, there is the fact that they (these people) do not feel considered by the authorities. It could be their personal economic situation, it could be their personal situation regarding much more intimate things.“.
The danger for European democracy is also to see more and more citizens refusing to get involved in politics or to represent themselves for fear of this violence.