European Council on Foreign Relations  Understanding populist
extremists  For those concerned about rising support for
Europe’s Populist Extremist Parties (so called PEPs), the think
tank Chatham House has bad news: their support is probably
higher than in the opinion polls. New research suggests that
many more voters are receptive to the message from the PEPs,
from opposition to immigration, growing hostility towards
established Muslim groups and a tangible dissatisfaction with
established parties.  In Austria, Holland, Norway, Denmark and
Italy, parties of this type have helped make up coalition
governments, and their share of the votes has reached as high as
20% to 30%. The True Finns – one of the highest profile PEPs –
came from nowhere to take 19% of the votes in the latest Finnish
general election.  In a few decades, many PEPs have developed
from extremist movements on the periphery of society to
established political parties with well-groomed spokespersons
and flowers as their party emblems. Since over