The effect of Russia on the rise of the far right parties in Europe from the Eurasianism perspective

Far-right parties in Europe have been on the rise after the economic crisis in Europe and the refugee crisis in 2015. Far-right parties in Europe have a political discourse that emphasizes anti-immigration, Islamophobia, xenophobia, Euro-scepticism, defending the sovereignty of the nation-state and traditional values. Apart from these discourses, some far-right parties have a pro-Russian tendency. In addition to their pro-Russian rhetoric, some far-right parties in Europe served as election observers in the self-proclaimed referendum in Crimea and accepted Russia's annexation of Crimea as legitimate. In addition, far-right parties in Europe voted in favor of Russia in the European Parliament vote on the Ukraine Crisis. Another concept, Eurasianism, as an intellectual movement that emerged after the Bolshevik revolution, defines Russia as a different civilization from the West in terms of politics, economy and culture. In the post-Cold War period, Aleksandr Dugin's ideas were expressed as Neo-Eurasianism in terms of reinterpreting Russia's position in the international system. Although the European far right and Eurasianism are seen as two different fields, there are intellectual matches between them. In the meantime, there is a debate that Vladimir Putin has followed a Eurasianist approach in domestic and foreign policy since 2000. In addition that, due to the political and financial support provided by Russia to the European far-right parties, far-right parties in Europe are seen as the "Trojan Horses" of Russia in the European Union. In this study, the effect of Russia on the rise of far-right parties in Europe will be examined and its relationship with Eurasianism in the development of this effect will be revealed. For this purpose, the European far right parties will be discussed in the first part of the study. In the second section, the concept of Eurasianism will be examined and its ideological similarities with Fascism and the European far right will be examined. In the third section, the discourse and practice of Russian President Vladimir Putin will be compared with the idea of Eurasianism. In the last section, the intellectual compatibility in the relations between Russia and the European far right, the tools used by Russia, the position of the European far right parties in the Ukraine Crisis and the political networks established by the far right parties in Europe with Russia will be examined.