THE EURABIA CONSPIRACY THEORY

Eirikur Bergmonn

lntroduction
In the early morning of Friday 22Júy 2011, Norwegian
terrorist Anders Behri,g
Breivik published his 1,500*page-1ong documenr, titred,
20gi: A European
Declaration o-f Independenrc. r{ it hadn't bee,
for his horrible acr of massacrins
seventy-seven of his o\,vn counrryrnen rater that
sarne da¡ the lengthy documenr
- a rather incohere¡rt compendium of other peopre's writings he had pasted in
frorn several sites onrine and then scattered his
o*r, thor,,ghts betrveen * wourd
probably have gorre largely unnoticed.
In the documenr, Breivik insisted that the entire
European continenr was cul_
turally under siege by foreign infiltrators. He r,venr
on to accuse,rainly femi,ists
and the sociai democratic elite of having berayetr
the European public i,to the
hands of their external enemies, presumabl¡
he argued, in ord"r to implement
their malignant ideorogy of rnulticulturarism. with
his rerrorist act, tsreivik
wanted to prevent a 'culturar suicide' of Europe,
underway and orchestrated bv
those he described as culrurar M¿rxists. He
carled for the deportation of all
Muslims from Europe. "lso
Anders Breivik r'vas a beriever i, the Eurabia conspiracy
theory. More pre-
ciseiy he maintained that the European union (EU)
was a project to c,Iturally
turn the conrinenr into Eurabia (camus, 201"r).
core to th" tlr"ory is the insist_
ence that Muslim.s, with the support of
domestic erires in Europe, are protting to
turn the continent into ¿n Islamic society.
Breivik considered himselfa Christian knight, dedicated
to sre,rming the tide
ofMuslim migration into Europe. In the man-iGsto,
he accused his victirns in the
Norwegian Labo,r party of being responsibre
for ruining hi, .o,.rntrf,, Nordic
heritage through their feminist and multiculrurar
beliefs. It seems that Anders
Breivik genuinely believed that, with his actions, he
was coming to the defence
 Jr leq1 PFs eH '\ZOZ'uurru8reg ul paronb) a¡ntlnr uradorng aql Bupr3 rrarqr
ef,ui
lsetza¡8 aqt sElrauoBe¡Erunur rrqt peurrelt og,&\ .spuelror{}eN aql uI (.ÁUed
srsp
uopearg, zf¡¿) pleq{!¡¡ ep roo^ lrue¿ oqr¡o s¡epp/Ir rraeS dq paIIenJ ef,uttsur
Joj se/\a rsal srq¡ 'eSerrraq puB Iros lBuorl?u ¡no ¡3^o 8ur1er a¡e¡a srurlsny¡ L¡rp )IP¡
- 3qr
-adsa -slue¡8nu reqr qrdru aqt Surrnunu .(q e¡druexa roy .,(roeqr lueruacr¡der
sn{t Palou¡o¡d eours e,r?q edorng ur s¡epeel rs{?uorleN-o3N snoreu¡nN epp

'srurlsnry uo ,(¡urerr
snf,oJ 01 ur8eq luaruaceldar .f.¡rnparS .adornX uI strl¡Iuor prntln3 ot3
3o r?eJ eq¡
-]§If
-orf,os erllJo qtrnul euuep ot aurcf, pur arro:8 ot pelIels,{rlruapuo e:uelrodrur aql
'pemo¡¡o; teql s:raL oqt uJ .uorlelndod a¡qru erltJo uortf,ur¡xa eql Bursn¿c ue,re
Áil"
¡o purl u/!ro ¡reql urpl¡ f.lrroullu r uorlr¡ndod alrr{¡ 3rI1 guuepuar;o asod¡nd -a¡(
esrca¡d eql ¡oJ ser.rlunof, al¡{¡r. ,{purunuope:d o1 Eur:¡:og a¡e.ryr slue¡gnuur¡ l3q1
urslureu¡ u¡er{lJo f.ue¡a¡ .(p¡q1) f,r}u?pv eqlJo seprs qloq uo p¡eqdn e^Erl stsr^rll? IIe.l
rq8u-rr¡ tsr[Buort?u qcrqa iÁroeql ,(ce¡¡dsuoc eprrouoo e]I{¿A. praua8 e:oru dql
aqr ut pe¡Sutlue '3f,u?tsur .lo3 'sar,r pur adorng ur dyeprrra. r.¡oddns punoJ rI {I^l
'(6ZOZ'uururS-reg) Xn oqr pue d¡rr¡ ,.{urrureS .ryrtuuaq .Eutsny e>lrf ser¡l lUer
eql
-unof, uI Surtroor 'stsrlBuon?N-oa¡J lsEuorur Eurrrto¡3-lseJ ]soul erllJo euo ueeq
seq luorue^oru aqI 'tuaura^our uErrBlrtuepl qlusJ{ arll slslr
Jo sJa{urql lBrluenuur -ln:
lsorrr áq3Jo euo eurcf,eq snrue3 .a¡doed qfue-¡J a^r1eu eql Euorue selB¡ rlt¡rq /\,rol
Jo asneseg pu" 'sar¡tuno) rurlsnw ruorJ f.gercadsa ,uorte¡Brru sszru Lq peunsqns
EureqSo >lsrJ t? sE¡^ Álrluepr pue uortesrlr^re uradorng trql pen8re eq ¡nq ,elu?¡J PIN.
uo pesn3oJ L¡ureru smut3 .(atun¡oa srqt ur s¡oJrauuo oas) ¡16¿ ur peqsrlqnd UII
>looq srq Jo ellll arll ¡oJ lr Pesn 'snure3 pntuax 'raqdoso¡rqd rlf,uerJ ¡uar
[Ersrelorl 3ur
-uor L¡deep ? uer{^., eoueurruo¡d rv\eu ol asor (¡u3uraf,e1da¡ rearS arlr, rrrrer aqr
uoat

tuaua)qdau leerD eqt 8ur,

'seBerf,os puB sarurouooe u¡elsala.

olw uorleJllrJur 3s3uftlJJo
reqr ,{gercadse 'tse¿[ erltJo uort?uruop uersvJo Eurp¡rnq se^r reeJ /Vrau e ,g7¡7
Jo srsrr) 6I-(IIA0] aqr Suunq 'rerdeqe srqr ur paururcxa ,(roegr ,(¡e¡¡dsuor
?Iq?rng oqt pur 'eprcoue11-atrq¿N-Io seapr o¡B Lroeqr ruauere¡da¡ l"ar3
Il?re^o
orllJo srupoJ er{t urqlr¿[ .ráAoá>let .lzluerua;rur lraq¡r ,e1r1soq ? ur tse¿s aqr renb
-uol ot lar)as ur Surrro¡d,(¡elrlce arr s1urr8rru30 sdnor8 ¡erIto ro srurlsnw 1?q1
Jarleg oqt sI sIqJ ',luauracr1da¡ tpa¡C aqJ. pel[e] sr ["¡e^o qrrqn l.:ooq],(cr¡rds
-uo¡ lqSr¡-lsrura¡lxe aql ur sra^3rlaq ere¡a s:oSerledrad asoqtJo IIv.osBd IIJO
u^\ol raproq Sn aqr ur souBu-I uo peurnt ¡alooqs Jeqtour pu?- (pue,P.,ez ¡¿reN ur
r{rrnq)tsrrq3 ur.¡alooqs e ,{.q pa¡e8¡zr ere¡. sur{snw ,610Zul.xo3 o[¿¡4¡ Áue¿
¡noq?l poreprnur crrcw seuroJ .¡o{cellr JIo¡,r suol e ,gloz aunf ur uropSury
Pelltrn eqr ur elo^ lrxerg aql 0r rorrd ¡ee*r v'(Lloz 'sro-¡rauu6) seSesseru
rraqt.Io sluardrco¡ alq?lsun uo a^eq uef, stsrJoaql .(ce¡rdsuoc gur¡r-rqh¡¡ eurertxa
l"ql speJJeJo eldurtxa euo lsnlsrm f.eznro¡ ur >13?11e tslf,o¡rat elqrJroq srr{J
I
'e¡ntlne urcdorng¡o asodsrp
pue adorng ¡anbuoc or Eurrro¡d e¡a/\{
i - s¡olre¡l frlsau¡opJo dlaq ql¡m pur _,(ernr.
¡¡ruetsl.s 3 ur oq-,vr. 'sur[Tsnw uro¡J {Jel]? Jepun s?A\ r{trFl¡lt ,arnllnf, ueadornEso

¿t ,úoaq] fretrdsuol elqernl aql

38 Eirikur Bergmann

crvilisatio¡
Europe failed to defend against these malignant forces, that would be because it
for instanc
no longer believed in the superiority of its own civilisation. On Twitter, Wilders
'wilders linked his Francois X
(2017) wrote: 'our population is being replaced. No more'.
disappearar
words to a video clip on his Twitter p¿ge showing Muslims dominating the
These v
streets in Amsterdam. The video was titled 'Is this Iran or Pakistan? No, this is
fessor Enor
Amsterdam, the Netherlands'.
After pointing to this external threat to the nation, Wilders - in a classic move
üe'River
Nationalist
of Neo-Nationalism - turned to accusing the domestic elite:
people fror
elite who are undertaking, said: 'like t
In the Netherlands we are dealing with a social
the Netherlands, (The Daily
what I call, an attack on the nation state, who undermine
who are hostile to the Dutch identity - hence multiculturalism, open bor- Several

ders, the EuroPean Union.

pring the
(Duyuendak and Kesíc, 2018) Norway -
tbund the
many similar moves made by several Neo-Nationalist the Ameri,
This is b-trt one example of
leaders in Europe indicating that Europe is facing a hostile Muslim takeover' In - How Ral
*-atched \tr
Austria, H. C. Strache of the Freiheitliche Partei Osterreichs (FPO, 'Austrian
tundament
Freedom Party') wrote that the Great Replacement has already taken place
under mainstream €iovernmenrs (Bergmann, 2020). In Belgium, Dries van üe ever-s<
ergued tha
Langenhove of the Vlaams Belang (vB, 'Flemish Interest') has claimed, 'we are
Illuslims fi
being replaced' (Davey and Ebner, 2019).
This fe¿
Sometimes, ih"se onc. marginalised views are adopted by mainstream actors.
One example of that, for instance, came before the 2017 General Election in A'iracy the
the Netherlands, u,hen the centre-right Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, took out
tic elite of
several national newspapers where he criticised immigrants
in erd, Here
advertisements
ere bringir
who refused to align with Dutch society. One line read Act normal or go away'.
mrmensely
The aim was obviously not solely to convince Muslims in the Netherlands to
under the
change their ways. Rather, the purpose was to reassure voters that they could
trust Rutte to stand firm on migration and that there was, thus, no need to GiÉle Litt
support
.W'ilders
in order to take a tough stand on immigrants (Fekete, 2018). ple in Frer
Itushms (l
Similar moves have been seen within the Social Democratic Party of Denmark
European.l
under the leadership of Mette Fredriksen (see Bergman n, 2020) '
'Eur¡bia'c
Before further exploring the significance of the Eurabia conspiracy theory in
European politics - i.e. the insistence that Muslims, with the support of domestic
ud becor¡
.Writel
elites in Europe, are plotting to turn the continent into an Islamic society - I fur-
ther discuss some the most influential literature that has underpinned its potency'
ú¡t Mu{i
¡ combinat
b<eed like
The Eurabia literature ,*¡ded thar
In addition to Renaud Camus's book, L¿ Crand Rempllcement, discussed above, In prer'
several earlier publications have been influential in spreading the Eurabia con- Frf,Et-rr-ar €

spiracy theory. In his dystopian novel, Le Camp des saints ('The camp of the
r:Ee of cr
tbe eadv I
Saints'), French writerJean Raspail (1973) depicts the cultural demise of-W'estern
rip pu? 686I rrl Lúsrunúrrro)Jo asdrllot arll rrryr puo)as arlr's0¿6[,(pra aqr ul,
uI srslrS IIO aqr Jo o1?,{\ rrr sr^\ lsru aql '(OZOZ 'rrutrrr8rag) sasrr) Jo é{r,{\ arl
aqt ur Sursr-r IIr 'ursrlruorleN-ooN ,(rtroduraluo: olur SrrrSrarue 'rlo :t,tr-1sod _LI

aqt rtr rusrlndod lsr¡rtruJo se^e,^ aof,ql parrrtuepr ¡^rq I sarpnts snor,ra:d u1 'e¡
'rpalrarr srq ,(rolsrq rrraporu lrql .,(:rrrdsrro: rsa88lg, otJ] sB,r\ srqt lrqt prprlil
-riof, ¡LIq ',,(pre:p sn elnr sJaprlrrr Itsrrrrte, rsrrlt tt?qt pálrts pur .str-¡ r{r1 paalq
ot sJo[]Jo a,tn¡, faql tEqt etof,^\ eqg'.(tr1rr"re; put uorler8rrutrrrJo uorteurqnrol r
qBnorqr adorng uretsr I Surtr8nlqns prrr Surpr:,r,rrr ']:E ur 'aJe¡A stnlsnW tri{l .t:
partrrrll prrr trrorun8n arurs srqt uo dn pe1:rd (.)OOZ) rtrl¡tl urrrrro lrtlr7¡¡ -Jl
'plro.^ rurlsnry put qrrv ¡rllJo Jlrllates p:rrrlod r Sumro:aq pue rll
posr)rr[r?lsJ Suraq rst3 A\ou sr,lr adorng ¡Erl] pnrs aqs 'lueurtuo) eqt uo .prqp¡ng. UI
ir lnoqr 8ur.rq ot on8rel q"ly ¡qt qlr^\ Suurdsrro: f.lletres se,r\ rrorul-I utaclorng
.rqt ¡s0¿6I ,{1-ir; oqr e)urs ra,\a lrrlt sen8rr rrpuntrf '(E¡6¿ ,ro,a¡lR€J) srurlsr-ry{ ry1
ot -ro^o tuaurtilor erlt SurpirBr{ ot ,(r,tr rror{t iro ¡¡o,u. Lpra;¡r era,tr alue-rg ur eltl '(s
-oad trpaur put sueIJItIIod jo tinor.3 n¡n:»l-rr:d r trql srrrrlrrrpu.r'(rrtullr-J olosrC ol
'roqtnr slr '(a¡¡ aql _¡o -retr¡8rlep '.4AarqáH ur) ro,a¡ tpg rtrrlrtr uad atlt ;opun PIT
.8ur1rr7y¡ '(SOOZ) swv quv-otnA )tt.L ol
- DqunA peprt looq lrrtuorlp(rr ,(lasnaurrui
..>qt ur s8rsselrr oJol r 'aldrutxe JoJ 'sr srr.lJ 'rrorlr:8nu ssrlu trloqr Sur8rrr.iq a:r .,Á,

s.r¡,r¡,od ¡ualo^ápur tralol tlrrlt Suru¡ttrrrttr¡ 'psrlddr sr ,(lrleuorluetlrr J.¡JH .lr^¡ stu
Ilrur;txe er{t Jo spurq áql otur ,oldocd ,{.:t:urp-ro poo.3, agt 8ur.{r¡laQ Jo .rtrlr rrl l11(
-s¡Irrop e Sursn¡¡e Jo lrrloJ oql sa>[E] os¡u Á11tnsn uorlaJdrrro:r sr¡ .,(.roeqt ,(rr¡¡d: ul
-rror IInJ eqr3o r:r:d lsrg rr{l Á1uo'g8noql 'sr t¡orsralqns ItrrnllntJo rreJ snlJ .SJ(

'scrlJrJos asarJt Srrrttrrrlrrrluol trroü srrrrlstll.\

lr¡a¡a:t1 ot L¡rssalor¡ sr ¡r 'rusrltJaqrI Ipr)os s,edo-rng plraJop ot Jap.ro rrr reqt ponS:r Jlt
JH 'srurlsrlw lrr¿.r)lolrrr .(q pepr:,trrr Srrroq ora,tr sueedolng trrBlrlot-os-.rrlr ar{l Lftl
tr:qt slsrsurr;,,!\rg'¡uourateldol luurelxoJo rpt B ul'rr.IEIsI ot.3.r.ursrletuaruupr.rnl 3)t
Sunrrrrp rloLrr qlnrrr pir8 r*ltour ot .(rJd 1¡t¿ 1.1¡:nprr8 ado.rng u.rátsJry! parlllr.\'. UTI
rr,l ,r\oq saqrr)sep rq (¿002) urtT)t714 r.uot{lst14 tt¡) iurlotts)(I sI lluFI l»tpl>f itt)H LII
-
rls¡g adotng .)ltul4 pepl. ¡ooq áqt ul 'rrrsrpllr*uppuru tr;ttsetorcl uerr-rrrrrv ¡rll ]SII
adr:rse ot s¡qr,(¡pug sr,&\ eq lall'ql,reg rro Lra^lráq r o1 Srrrql tsasol) áqt punc)l
Surntq sE L66l r¡r uluplalsruy r¡r 8ut.rr¡¡r r.raqm s8rulaa-¡ srrl srclrrlsáp - ,(r:rnt:o¡ 6t
ol pelolu rrtrl orl,r\ - (¿OO¡) .r¡/\\pfl r.)n.rg .rrtrr,\\ ut)u)Lrry 'ls¿1y[ aqr 8ur.i,J
-n)JoJo .(¡r¡rdsuo: tsrurrlsl LrEJo porrJe.&\ o^rq suortp)t1qnd prruangur Iprr^oS -JO

4dotlt¡17 l¡wq try1

' (¿g¡7' 'sP
.poolq qrnur qtr,l.r Sirnuuo3 raqrJ "ra^rll rqt ras ot ru¡as I 'rrruro¡ rr{1 :{rl, :prr: '3u
oq 'rnaod pntDv s,¡8tr¡ uro.rJ arrrl e Srrrron§ 'qtl?r.{\uotrrtrro:) oql uror_¡ sldoa;
Jo Nn aql or uortr:t8rrrrlLrr sstru posrrrtrr) Ila^\od '(¡¡76¿'u:'eurSrag) srsrpuorre¡
-oo¡ ,(ur:ru Lq dn pe1:ld rq ol su,la, rottl rI)rrl.^^ 'asr-rr1d ,poolg Jo sro^ry, ai{r oAc
pauror 8961 rrl rurr¡8unul11 ur q:aads snoutr.Jur uE Lrr ollr'!\ tllá1lro¿ qlolrg ross¡_:
-ord srrssr:13 reruJo-, prrr urr:rtrlod anrllrnJrsuo.) yn peor[ra s8urlu.,ra, asaqa SIS
'Llrlirepr rraqt 'ruaqt qtr.^A pup 'aldoad qruor{ anrt oLItJo a¡ur:¡r¡ddr_<rE oql
aq] Sursnr:: sr.u uorle¡Stuurr tlrqt porr.rtld gL6t ltry ur or{./r\'1r:rdn¡1 srotru?r-.1 SIII
,rolrJ,&l 'luo-rg leuorlrN ar{rJo lrqruoru Surpuuo-¡ r,(q plaqdn osp .Jlurtsur ri: srel
'sr.r\ nrJ aúrrs srql 'slrrrpul pezrrl-xrs 3o uorler8rur ssrru q8norqt uorlrsrlr-.,r-- lre

6Í ,úoaq¡ ,(rerrdsuof prqPrnl aql

40 Eirikur Bergmann

third in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008. As I will illustrate in this r*-asnot e
chapter, the Eurabia conspiracy theory has - over these three waves - moved In it, the
from the margins to find foothotd amongst the mainstream. It has become ofprotec
increasingly more prominent in contemporary political discourse. and uphr
Although anti-Muslim sentiments first found significant mainstream backing coming I
in the third wave, I will discuss in the following segments several examples of the 'soci¿
how the Eurabia theory has travelled through each of these waves and manifested rights an
across different areas and countries in contemporary time. Islam, th
struggle -

Perha¡
Early examples
ing frien<
One of the early examples of anti*Muslim notions being actively applied in in lraq ar
European politics comes from Norway. Leading up to the 1987 election cam- nificant s
paign, the leader of the nativist populist Fremskrittspartiet (FrP, 'Progress Party'), 2010).
Carl I. Flagen, quoted a letter he claimed he had received from a Muslim called
Mustafa, effectively describing a conspiracy of Muslim immigrants planning to
9/'al
take over Norway (Widfeld, 201,5:97). This was quite remarkable, as Muslims
accounted for only a fraction of the Norwegian population. Still, he did not The terro
hesitate to uphold the Eurabia conspiracy theory. Although the letter proved to only mar
be his own fabrication, in fect a fully-fledged political forgery, it did not prevent far-reachi
his party from winning'1,2.3 per cent of the vote - mainly on the anti-imrnigrant 'legitima<
platform. Idamophr
Hagen's move somewhat mirrors that of Morgens Glistrup of the Danish Austria, f
Fremskridtspartiet (FP, 'Progress Party'), who in 1991 compared Muslims in only acce¡
Denmark to a'drop of arsenic in a glass of clear water'. Glistrup referred to them The af
as foreign invaders, aiming to 'colonise' Denmark (.S/ren, 2001). both Am,
In France, Jean Marie Le Pen of the Front National, (FN, 'National Front') threats an
'War
was moving in a similar direction. The end of the Cold saw a move from origin felr
polarising tension primarily between socialism and liberal capitalisrn, towards Muslim sr
confrontation on another axis. The new axis was contrasting cosmopolitanism nities r*'hr
with the protection of national values. In wake of several violent incidences in The m,
France, the 2002 presidential debate - when Le Pen remarkably graduated to the US Presic
runoff- largely revolved around law and order. The FN campaigned on a zero- about the
tolerance platform, insisting on much tollgher punishment, even of introducing ¡cy theori
the death penalty. Le Pen successfully linked immigration to increased crime stream i\a
and positioned mainly Muslim migrants as being a 'mortal threat to civil peace' Conspi
(Shields,2007). ofthe Nec
created th
u'eaponise
Anti-immigrat¡on
Times Sqr
The Eurabia conspiracy theory has often become entangled in a more general Islamic fu
opposition to immigration, to a different extent. Austria became an early hotbed The 9/
forpopulistsplayingonanti-immigrationsentiments. lnlgg2,thecountry'sFPÓ on'back i
underJórg Haider published its programme 'Austia First', declaring that Austria .cedloudll
 ilqt.]o s¡prs qtoq uo L)^Jueruo^oru tq:iu-Ji3 lur.¡.3rrrr-rluu frriltr urqlr,tt l.1pno1 p..
-r{ro o)urs srq )u¡(rroltldat Frnlln: Jo (ror}orr srq¿ .luor-}¡toJ arll ot lrrq .(l
*arl¡.{rr.rrds(ro-) rpr)oua1) a¡lq,4N rt{l lrl{_Jnorq os[r s>pr]lp tsr-ror,r.rl
lI/(.t ar1l
'rroorrr .)rll
Jo a-ilr¡or or{l ltqBr{uI s]st)sl,4 )rrrrp{: r

lEql parrrup por{Jta-I-rEJ tsorrr aqt sdBqrrd,"(rr1'¡ 1,ro¡ rrr a-rrnb5 sarrrr_¡
^\¡N
,(snq.:r1r ur rrrrlrr^ eloqa rrr d. Sur,troJcl fg.rldruexa J(u .snrr^ crll asruodr:.,,.
or p:rrurJd prrr 'rrruv ls¿lyl ur :rrrraprde utoclg tlo¿ srloplr.rrror{ Jtl] polr¡r
e trqdrlur Lrrrlsnry r trql polsrsür arr¡1 .(¡¿g¿ ,rrutru8raEl) slsillrf¡orleN-orN rql
-l
nrrlrur JtI] ur lrrEptrnqe tráeq prrpur e^rq sturlsnw punotr selrosql ,{:trrclsrro3
'(91¡¡¿ 'rrurruf-reg aas) drolsrr¡ l.:r-rodrrr.,'¡ruor rrr rrojeq re,t": sdeg¡od lrcrf) lsr.l_:
-trrl]lrr Jrll ollrr -¡Jr[]-nq pá-rr¡Jstr?,rl ltrJ^a Jr[]Jo illlrruts:ur Jrlt ür ¡re^\ sar:orqt i .
-¡rdsr¡o-¡ sr olrrr,rr¡m8rs sr srL[.T 'uaclcfuq urrr{] t.¡l pr.r? Jlilr^pE rrr s{rr]llr 3rl} }nc,rr-
-llltlg Lui¿ .ra1srurl4J rurr-rd rlsrlr"r[f puB rlsnfl .,16 e8_ro:)1 ]r.rrpts¡-rd \-^-
^\¡rr>l
trrql p;tstsrrr IIl¡r¡rrrno-tr:,(.rooqt.(:e-udsrlo: lrrol:^tsrJd pur uo(rrrrroJ lsoru rq*L
'
p.rA rJ r[] sr(r:,M, 1r pt r[ trrs r.)r.r J-r JL[.,\\ s J I ] : ..
*nrrrllloJ ,r\oprlfs eqr puolaq -rc,¡ 'Srrrpr:ards f
1.rpr,,n ,r\ou aJr,r\ stuorlf rtrrrs rurlsrll.,
-tltty'(¡61¡-'¡a,(l) p¡¡a8¡rt Srrr"rq or¡,\\ pilrr lsure8r prtlrirrlrrrrtsrp l¡.:3 rrrir.r
Ilr¡tsr![ olpplf\¡-¡o aJdo.rd tBql pr.\\oqs sl.a.r,rn5 .sBurJlr>1 [r].),\.)s oslc puE str.rr,-.-
'IIrsrlilptnr. , 'srrosJB 'st1nr:ssr pilpnllrrr slrr .ado;ng prflt ?rrJJÚrv rll
In-JJIEFI
rrr srr.rrlsny1¡ lsurrlit¡ Sursr.r s¡trr¡:) alulJo a^D^\ e.^ars 1116-ro qlrrrrJJuu aqf
'aclorng uro,U s¡.r{rcs urn1,{sr: ldr.r.r¡ .1¡r.
rro rr)ql urou plnoqs na trqt.rqt
p.sodord ;aprc¡1 8-rof .o¡uetsul ]o3 ,r:r:t:n-,
rrl 'pFo.lt urrtsáry\ eqt punorrl Surpro;ds poJpul sr:,tt alpnh,rd :rqoqdorrrr,,
'trrtlsJ
-Io [^r rrl] lsurcijr s3r¡rr¡¡r,.u snor.r.o-rd Jreql ol Srrrlurocl .,(q ,ftrurtr,..=
rr.lmlr ot:prnb tla,tr s¡rl¡rd rsrindo<I urarlo;ng."rdo:ng ur sl)álJ¡ lirrripeo:_;,._
Ptq o§[r] lue^¡ .)Jqr¡loq e{ll lllg 's.)t¡r1od 3¡ ur turod .Snri¡.rnl t po+r:rtr .i1 :
lou I(X)¿ logruolri:q IT uo satels potrun ;qr ur rpoe§ [VJo {]tsmr }srrol.r¡l ¡1. .

tt6
'(r,t .
'pftrrrl]q-.lrrrnrr) g rlsr{IEq{lw) urcsslrH rurpprs rtro-5 farrortl.¡o sLrfl-ls trrB.¡r_
-Brs 8rrr.tr.r:r¡r-)o p¡srllre rro^r sp,ll a¡1 .u,(c1r1 *r Urppr) Jtsruu*nw pur br:¡ _

LIrlrssn¡{ ruppprq sr qlns 'sfotrtrrp r¡?rv snorJo}ou qtr.\\ sdrqsuorleler Á11..r.,-rl .- .

r¿tsoJ -ro] prsrrrtrrl sr,{\ r¡plrH ,-ruo¡rqr ilrplsl-rtut slil toj.{1a8irr_r1s sdrq:a¿
'(966¿ '8raqu¡a¡( § ,prql! _ aliii-,__
I-yrtrAI) Srrrqt.(ra.ro roJ -.rr.&\ f¡oq eqt
snorFrlar prrp rllrr--] :Surgtorr lo_I tunol IIr^\ aaJ,) sri{ pur .rrrr
lrnpr^rpur ¡LIl
1rl, '.1rf rflrop snorl-r¡or lurlsnw r¡1r..u o1qr1r:druolur 3lo^\ L:e'I.toruop prrr sI{ : _

IItrrllnt[ ]tql ples JH '.s¡np^ ulals¡1y\ .tno ot posoddo sr urtlsJ¡) -rJpJo

Irrfo\. :. .

Itql p¡lsrsrrr roplltH 's1-¡6r¡.,1 ,(Fra sql rr1 .,(e¡rna prrr sur{[r]€[;q] uto:3 Srrrri:
;sorll tsrrrr8u p¡lrrrp .{lurEtrr se,{\ srql ,¡rrrrl rLI¡ tV .lrpJo prrr ,\\rl Burploqdn ¡ .,
Srtrsrsrr¡durr sE II¡,r sr'son¡rn pur: a8etr,roq nurlsrJr.[) s,l.r¡rrno: ;q] Errrr:rlLr.r.-.-
¡.r¡¡el-¡oc{¡ril lrrll pass.rrls puu rrortr:.r8rul uJrlsnIAJ,{1Jr:r:o«Isc .:.
¡r.rsori«lo .(¡.¡rd ¡qt
'(tlZOe 'uurru8l:rg .rts) ucrr¡r:i3nrrrur,Io L¡luno.l r: aruo);q
lo(r pl.lo^\ prrI lolt r"

1y Á:oaqt ,(:e"¡rdsuot prqetnl aql

42 Eirikur Bergmann

Atlantic. Cas Mudde (2016) illustrates how right-wing populists in Europe have
been especially successful in depicting Muslim migrants as external threats to ñ
the benign native society. In this depiction, Muslims are generally portrayed as a R
homogeneous group of violent and authoritative religious fundamentalists, who E'
were pre-modern and primarily anti-Western in their politics. tr
In wake of the 9/1L terrorist attacks, the British National Party (BNP) P:
launched in the UK what they called 'Campaign Against Islam' (Shaffer,2AÜ). r€
On a premise that migration from {ar-away was undermining British society T
and culture, the BNP demanded an end of non-white immigration. Initiall¡
the party advocated compulsory expulsion of all non-whites from the UK, but r€
after Nick Griffin assumed power, they called for voluntary removals. Another Itr
change accompanying Griffin's reign in the BNP was that their previous anti- D
Semitic stance was exchanged with Islamophobia. They viewed Islam, such, as
as ¡r
posing a threat to 'our British culture' (.lVoodbridge, 2010). This even related to b
those that they referred to as 'mainstream Islam'. ¡D
The party insisted that every Muslim in Britain was a threat to the country. lrl
After the London bombing of 7 July 2005, by Islamist terrorists, Griffin referred ¡¡
to Islam as an 'evil, wicked faith' (Copsey,2009). He went on to describe Islarn h
as a 'cancer' that needed to be removed fronr Europe through 'chemotherapy' trt
(Trilling, 2013). ü
The BNP was always a fringe party on the margins of British politics and 5t
never amounted to having any kind of significant influence. On the other side of
the power spectrum, Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was also quick to tr
jump on the wagon of post-f /1L anti-Muslim rhetoric. He insisted that 'Western .{¡
civilisation was 'superior to Islamic culture' (The Independent, 2007). In its wake, D
Berlusconi was able to push through stricter immigration policy, including the €¡
Bossi-Fini lew in2002, named after his two populist coalition partners. The new EE

legislation provided for the expulsion of illegal immigrants. It was criticised in -ü¡
the European Parliament as being too restrictive ancl severe. In the 200f] general
election, Berlusconi described jobless foreigners as an 'army of evil' (Fekete, F
201 8). ¡!

The Syrian War and the refugee cr¡sis

h
Er
As mentioned above, the first wave of Neo-Nationalism rose in the wake of T
the Oil Crisis in1972, and the second rose after the collapse of Comnrunism in h
1989 and spiked after the 9/11 terrorisr attacks, The third began to emerge after F
the Financial Crisis of 2008, soaring with the so-called refugee crisis of 2015-
The Great Replacement theory, and with it the narrower Eurabie theory, were
indeed elevatecl to new heights with the Syrian refugee crisis - when Europe saw
I
a sudden increased influx of predominantly Muslim refugees coming in large m
numbers to the continent. Anti-immigrant Neo-Nationalists were even surging -
in Germany, where such parties had up until then met difficulties in finding suc- ¡,i
cess in the post-World'War Two era. r
 ¡-lot-r:itrtr ]sults8r JrrrEls JJrlrJr] rrJ^J rrE .Jfrrtlsrrr Jo} .oitqtc)
{oo¡ Jol{lA l¡lsturW
JUIIJd UI]I-IESUNH 'S]L¡E]8ITII TIIIISNW JO
PfO^ ]SOIUIP JJ.,o' ]ErJ] JdO]NA UI SI]JJI] O] -lns i
uJ^J Á'IoJrll Á:t¡lclst¡o¡ tlqtr,n? iJ^\o-rrt, ¡qr p.p srrrJurrlu¡s rrrr*lsl-rrrrE
JJrlrrn-j Surii.r
tq8nor.l 'e^e.{\ prrql ult_Io .)su Jrl:} rrl,{p s_rr:,,(,r,r:4 E trq qlll,r\ .srsrtr aaHn;:; aqa o8rrl
r!\tls .l
lsea 6u!^orN JJJ;1\
'9
t0a
'¡rsodord ,rruE ,

Á:riiod ¡15 r,ro-r E sr rrorl,rBrrrra: '.(1trn-r.rn.¡ .(c¡¡¡¿ .r1o1.ry

s prlr^surproN) ,ut¡ LII lLI!
tIrrLIq uro'r-I l?J-rill -rJpun JrJl\ prr posfur.Isl iiurur.:rq J-,JA Sárl¡rfos
ul¡rsod! Jo 3l
tcqt palrnrP ar¡ ,Íroaql .(,rr:rdsrro: luarrra:r:1da¡ trrJI) rqt r[]r.r\ rrrrl uI .odorng
ot 'prrprrr 'pur .u.rpo,uq ot lE¡_rLJt rr8r.rroj 1salr:.r;S llt s? s{urISnW prrrrtr-}
erl
'6f)0¿ ül ;i:rl;r: rodr:ds,\\Jrr t u¡ .suorlrsod snor,r¡:d
s(rossJlV uo llrnq srql
'(i-19¿ ,ura¡y)
,s,rno,( sr
JfroilJ 3i{r - rrorlr:;3rruuil ro s{rorslr.)¿, :pl}J-r ur:iio1s;rar¡a .s¡,\rJ,rr,(lprrr¡
uE{rro^\ 'rlr_l:
tlsIPr.,§q rqt r,IoJrq slluoJ Álu.:¡s
Ii:rtos ail:l lno q:^rl oq^\.s.It'q ur ualuo,\\ IE¡3r1.:
lrr[snw Sur,rorrr-¡sr.1-¡o d.o:8 r fq rra)E],rJ^o sf Jtrr.-u rJrr.mrrz rJLl rlrr^ ,jr¡r,r.ru uI P,r:
,\1,rtols -t:ttorsrr¡d r¡rrr¡o,tr. ¡Arluu lt :0[(lZ rrr l_r¡^pr (.[S r.n] rrr p¡trl_]sn1¡r.ricftuexa A\.] U .:
rr5'si:r* SFIJ,'(I¿0¿,s,ro3r+urro) rsooq_) ol r).'lolrrlr ér{l pa{sr ptr. r^rs-rl[]x.r
cqr Er
uor3er,3n.rr,,, p,r,, .r,,1¡..n\ p¡lrrr\.rrd snql qJ .,*rrr"r,!r¡1,,.r,
se
^llpn]mu qlnrrr ool '¡{r.$-
Jlpurq rou p[no-] *r¡]sÁs ¡,rr'-irJA\ rrsrpc^\q ¡nbr.,n,r{} t'qr pJrrrrrrrrpLu
rros)^-lIv uit¡ls¡
(¡.,¡6¿ '-ro1:.rfl) ,r?.¿N plrolY\ puorrq rrll r3rrrs lropr^\q ot
lrá.nll .,f,"rr3 ,r"" ()l r{lr
8rq, eqt pesod sra8nSrr rurlsnry tErll pr?s ,uosso1V ;nmrrf .(IqJo
rrpurI rqJ ,Io JPrl
.k,tlt¡Z ,rrossaly)
Iros qsrpr,{\q uo s^\ri ErrEq\ PUe \.
prfnporlol ,(i¡rrr-rrd rr¡,\3 ptr[ orl^\ pur] reorqr rrl3raro-1 ls¡]r:o-r,s s,,(l1r_rno:.r aql rf.r^\
orJ^\ sLlrtJsllt{ iq pardnc:o 's)t-rollr-l¡t p1.;q-rrBra,o3 olrrr sa:relci ;s.rr¡l pa,,rn3 Á1e,ru Áde,r¡
-)r-IJO pl?rl slr:,rror.rr)CJ JBooS ¡ql lri¡l patJdrrrr Áaqa .sta:re .rsaql
¡or1r:d ot prlelrsrq rtltlsl
rt:r:..,rrlocl ri{l lt}ill pJ*rrrp Ilrls ÁJilt ,rn.tl i.l^¡u q8noqtJy.srprA\q
lo,J slrr.rr P.rrJ.ri
.o8*otr. .rruorJq prq llxll soriaq8 sr sartrunruuro.l lur:¡Errrrult j¡rllo ptrts cltrrlplN ',(;]u rr
{rr xrldlrror 1:olq p;pHu.rsox rrll p.lqrrrsrp (lS .(91{lZ,tlror1s¡1ag).{]er¡os
ur
rlorsu¡r PJSPJJIITr plrlr l-)1Hrro-) '^lrlr:ururrr-) 'ss.russ;lloor 'uor]r8¡r80s
pJsrlpl ppr{ ol PJlr
s-rot-¡3¡*r lrr11 :inrlsrsur 'sor]¡rtl rurJrJsrrrrur aqr;. {rrlod
,rcrr¡rrir,.,r,,r, luJrrrJ[ 1] sB'qlt
p.r1¡e: ior¡t trrl,\\ prrE f-rr¡rcl:oop rrodo oql qloq posrltrrr Á¡1n-1a:.roj
(.str.rrorrag -rlut :
rr¿pr^\q. 'clq) rru¡rrrl0rrrapoSrro.,rq lsrleuorlpN orN srl,l .srsr-i.r
ooSr¡ar oq] iitlr tJqloil
-,rnp odo:ng rrr Írlur-ro:r r.rqlo.trre urtll rlrdt: rail sro;1aas runl.,ist
1r,i" s..:ir_rJ"¡ lntl ')
¡¡ort¡ p¡ld¡.-rllr lprq^\,(¡lurto:.r a ,rrJp.r&\S ur.Brrr¡.rn-r:c.r arr^a rprril
rBlrurrq 'Á¡itnr
'Prcltlng euroloq l,uo.nr :dornq ler[] os sn Jo,¡ ¿lo¡,
:pres dol uo riorlclr:: ¡qI ,(l¡r¡tr
'Lltnotrrl;q rrr pe.reld rafiug plrrr*1s_./uorq
r: Etrr,r.rq .rr.,rr rurls.W,tq paprr,o: '(t¡o¿
-Jns r.tBllro¡\ )tlq_\\ pJryll r Burl:rtl.rp s¡otsod rrr:r flrr:d Jql .uorljJl¡
tuJlrrrJ_lrd (¿Nn
rtt::do,rng fI0Z ri{l ¡J(U¡{J srolrell lrls.rrrop se tsr: Í[urtru
nrrr¡. 1t:Ur¡ocl
rrErrr,rJr) tr,iJlsJ,\\ ¡rll JIrr{^\ .iut.¡;¡.) ol llr.l.,[] "rr^
ir:i¡J¡lxa ;qt se p;re1d e-to,* otla'!
slur:.r.Brrr* 'Írcl:ql ,(¡r¡rdsrro¡ lrrcura.rtpl.r11
lrJJq Jq1 rlc)urorr{ o} srsr,r..) aosn-¡a¡ P sú P.r
lltJo a{pn rqt ur pr^oru,(.(ururra,¡ _ro; ¡^rlrul¡llv, .Cl_}V) .puelqlsln}Cl lnl C)l slrl
.r.\rlrU,rotlv 'rlil g00Z Jo srsrr.)
Ierlrrrur:J ¡rJt ¡rt-lE p¡r{rroJ Á¡:rcl ts¡lo¡d V JAtr[ .]

gy ÁLoaqt ,(te.rdsuot prq?rnl alll

 44 Eirikur Bergmann

than leaders in countries that

had experienced a much greater
migrants' Refusing to adhere to influx of Musrim
tt .oll..tirr. Bu response,
thousands of additionar border "
guards *i¡1" ,nrr.irrg off
he instead hired
with a gigantic deGnce wall. the Hungarian border
Hiaid thr, _*, his dut],, o,¡..*lr",i"
nation would die out' orbánpraced..ng"", Hungarian
seeking asylum ir, ñrrg".y
threar to the ethnic Christian
ú""*".r*-rir,i"r. *, n
vikror orbán insisted that Geo"rge
so.*, ,i¿"¿ by the Eu, was seeking
ruin the Hungarian narion bv to
wav
government splartered posrers ";*€;;;;" (see Langer in r;is ;;rume). rhe
of soros ,Árrd the countiy,
'soros wanrs to rranspranr r". r,,rrr*", reading:
(see Bergmann, 2020)...The
m,lions fl;;ñ;." and the Middle East. stop
more .or*.-Urrrr*ian Jobbik movemenrsoros,
much further in revitalising went
hatred ,grlrirt or,*.orpr, such as Jews, Roma peo*
ple and, indeed, against
Muslim *igártr. A .rmp,g, poster in 2010 compared
Roma andJews in Hungary with
Árqritos- The HungarianJobbik
went even further, revelling movemenr
in clear fascist
symbolism.
over in porand' leader olthe .rtir-,g
pr.,;p.awo i Sprawiedriwo§é (pis, .Law
andJustice'), Jarosraw Kaczynski,
a.ñ".i in- porish nationar identity as
on ethnicity and arso pointed to refugees based
He insisted that syrian refugees
* .orra"*irrting the polish people,
b.o,.git
and argued that Europe was facing ""* r"* dangerous diseases to porand
a Ierious crisis_
accepting refugees showed of consciousness, saying thar
a w,linlness ofru l.nd"., to sacrifice European cur*
tural and ethnic identity. Similar
r.l.rd, *"." r, *"rr,
Babis, party at..""r.*r
counrries, such as bl An{re1
'Actions of Dissatisfied w"rpot o¡.r¡t ".rllrr"i,rron.r,
(ANO,
citizens') i" ,rr. cr".l, Republic, "t,_rU
Arara (Ataka, Attac,) in Bulgaria.
and the neo*fascist

France and the identitarians

Marine Le pen, who had succeeded
her father as reader ofthe French
amongsr many Neo*Nationalist FN in 2011 was
readers in the third wave
wave accompanying the Syrian ro ride the
anti,Muslim
Refugee Crisis. Although she
n"J á"a" *roy
,*::j: ;:Tii::t}; ,*,, making ii more acceprable ii societ¡ ,i th. h.ight of
,hebacks.f *;;;;;lüiiiü;*:i,I.ffitrJ,,111-j;"h";;d",";;ch,;;,;
In March 2015' Marine Le peir
."r".á,o ,i. Great Repracemenr
writing on Twitter that France
*r, ,.rd". *i*or"., submersion. she rheory when
then invited
her followers to readJeanRaspail's
pr"rrio.rJf?entioned nover, Le camp
(L973) ' As I have already des saints
disc,rlsed, il*p;rlt;;;k
civilisation through mass immigr"tion'f.om illustrates the demise áfw"rt.r.,
Irdia. Biorogicar race is a key
here in explaining the f¿tes factor
of ,"o.i"rr.r. p..rr."d, Marine pen
the book painted a picture Le had said that
ofa Europe u.irf rr".a.a by hordes of.stinking, dark-
skinned migrants and ,rat people,flowing
This idea of the submersion
iri, ?irr". of ,perm, (Symo ns,2017). I

¡
of ,t
illustrated in prominent contemporary "-p."rrJ currure to Islam has arso been i
literature, most fámousry in
Michel i
 '){n aqr olur srurlsrlw-¡i.
uorlerSllu aql uo LlrnpuaJaJa] p peepur s?,/r\ alo^ lrxaJg árll ¡¿q¡ pálsrsur
a^rssEur
¿lleuurg)
dIXO '(9102 (rq Á¿ur lI rolras ra^attqm ur sqof a{¿l o¡'sloorlrs f.retü
-¡¡d :no osn ot 'efr^JoS r{tpa¡1 oqt esn ot, ')n aqt ol sselrr 8ururr83o a8ra.r, aqr
uo era,r sryna rood uorllrlu g¿ ]rrll peurelureur l.¡1n3arr<.y aH .)rrotarlr flg-rtut ]E
s,)In eqlJo a¡ro,,r .(.¡ru¡r¡d agt aEroraq prq 'aSerrg 1a3r¡ ,lapral sl¡ .Áriunor aq: .10

ur a¡tds rsrlndod eqr pardn::o .(Jrurg pue (f.¡snor.r,e,rd pessnrsrp) ¿¡g aql passrd UJ

-rns PEtl (¿lXn) >In eqr 'aro^ rlxerg orlrJo eturr aqr .(g
,{t"re¿ a:uaprradapu¡ slrl

slrodssrd nA uo spurq:raql Surr Pa

-ta8 urorS slrr.ra aq] dots o¡ elqr áq tou 'a¡rt¡r:¡d ur 'plno,ln )n aq] ¡Rq¡ patsrsur u:
Jlrrs trSrrdurrtr ¡e^raf alo¡, aqt 'sraqrraur /r4,eu Jo ole^ r plor{ sátets s¡equ.raru
ng IIt reql llrJ aql Surssrl[IsrP ellqlK '>In aqt o1 uorlt¡8fiu rurlsnw prsrar]urJo 3Jt
'snr{r 'prrc nE er{t or .(aryn¿3o ssef,lt alqrssod punore pallo^ár árro .urelrr€[Jo Jo
uorlúsrrlrrlsl aquo sr¿aJ ol patEler s¡¡adsr esoql 'e)rrrtsur roJ ,puotprrdsuor l.lqBrq Áu
eQ ol Pa,to¡d altsqep ar{tJo sl¡Ed'arEqap oql ur q8norqt pa¡atluun uel slsssnlg tur
ur §tE¡trntsarnq pa[I^¿.-lllJo suor¡ldsns Surrse¡-8uo1 '(eurnlon srqr ur auEorpBl¡\i
eas) uappq ro lutlu]op ltq,raeuros uoaq p?q q)rq,^^Jo.{urur'srrrrlod qsrlrrg ur
sour¡ Surprarp lutru rltroJ tr{3no¡q urop8ury patrun oql ur e¡rqap trxerg arll
l'Uop6u!)l pallun aql puP llxaJ8
lsrl
's))uenprur
ItJntlnf u8raro¡ pue stue_r8rru 'ol
ot settS aql Suruado,(q arnl¡n: ueadorngSo uorlrllrp oql Eurtrtrlrf,rj ro] srrperi fIR¡
lrt¿:trouráp 1t-laq{ urpertsureu¡ anrtlq sutr¡etr}urpl 3rll 'luetunSr? Jrar{t LrI -ln.
'.urdr s.raqlo Surdaal pue 'aluriou8r SursrurrlrSrl 'uorsnpxe roJ l3i{
Ioor,
lrrlua)ouqtr ue se per¡dde errr{ sr.Álrluapr trql sanS.tr (g16¿) eronbgT orpa¿ aso[ Pul
'qrns sr ,(trulapour pur rusr¡rtrde) qtoq o¡ uorlrsoddo sourquol srqt rrqt pan8re 'olc
aq utt lr 'ásuás ¿ LrI 'spor{tatu ltfrper Er^ pou-tntal aq ,(1uo pfno,^A tr }rqt lrJ os Pos
auo8 Lpear¡r prq uorl)nJlsJp IrJntlnJ pur asrtuap Pntr:rds s.adorng .surr¡utt¡uapl .\\e'
aqr ot Surpro:ry 's¡rodrur Irrntlnr rr¡ndod aprs8uole f,rluEllv aqr ssot:e 3ur
-.&\.oU saf,uengur rrrfrluuySo Sursuralc rr¡r JoJ pettro^pu oqr Laq¡ .adorng ol ]U3
stur¡8¡ru parurdruor:r ptq ttqt serurngur uratstg elpplryJo 3ur3:nd palourord Por
f.lsnoauet¡trrrs srrerr?trluepl eq¡ 'r^e.^A pJrql aql ur trrorJaJoJ aqt ol .(ptap aroru -oi
surEl r{lrq./v\ allrPssrrusu uradornE pe.¡r\áLreJ ?Jo tlos eruos JoJ lsanb srqt u¡ lu€
'rplrrns srq roJ slr.reurdolanap Irtártos peuplq ,So'
eq qllq/\§ ur Pulqeq olssJluturJo t¡os r rJrl puE srrr3d ur sruec artoNJo lp.¡per{rtr :3r
rql uIJlrsrultl palll{ reuua¡ 'gl0Z ul 'ursrlernllnrrtlnur ol tsol sr.¡* leq,,ra.8ur¡anb aq,
-uotra¡ ro-¡ :133nrrs a^rl)ll ur prrr Ltrrrrapr ur:edorng ot urntár e paloruord oq,u ol
'tarrua¡ enbrunuog uBrrotsrq rlfrre:l uaaq seq slopual rraql Suotuy .spn]rállatur
¡slleuolltsu auoqdoluer¿ Áq plaqdn rraaq l.lurtln srq q)rq,{r 'edorng ur tueluáAolr.r TS
upt.tvttlwpl rgt urqtr.^^ aJnlea; Ir¡lueJuaaq seq L-roaqr ,(¡r:¡¡dsuo¡ rrqrrng aqJ
e [IE'
'f.¡luno¡ frrlrtlsl ur Sumro5aq sptr.uot a.,r,oru yrnprrS r3[
E ur ueeq srq elurrl sreal. f.1ro3 roJ teqt panBre (¡19¿) rnounLraz )Írg,srñtr.ot¿ Pe.
)pD,nS a'I paq] rallrstsag uort)U-uou e ul'ttotrstutnos ¿la^ou (916¿) s.braqalproH tIII

g¡ fuoaql ,(reldsuor erqein:l aq1

46 Eirikur Berqmann

ThiswasinthemidstoftherefugeecrisistriggeredbythewalinSyria.Farage
ISIS would filter
went on to argue that combatants of the terrorist organisation
(see Bergmann'
through to the UK with Syrian refugees coming from Türkey
British people, facilitating an Llncon-
2O2O). The EU was cast as a traitor to the
to them as
trolled flow of Muslim migrants to the uK. Nigel Farage referred
.hordesofforeigners,(Harrison,2018)'Thediscoursewashighlyxenophobic.
culture'
Migrants were [nked to loss of identity and the erosion of British
Party mem-
irr r rp...h promoting Farage's fiIessage, a prominent Conservative
crisis today,
ber, Theresa Villieis, ,"id' 'tf p"ople believe there is an immigration
given to Turkey's 75
how much more concerned *iil they be after free movement is
Former conservative Party leader
million citizens?' (quoted in Bergmann ,2020).
IainDuncanSmithsimilarlymaintainedthattheEUhadmadeitveryclearthat
the 'vote
Turks golng to get free travel and then enter the EU'. In a statement,
,are
in would lead to
Leave, campaign went on to state that the high birth rate
Türkey
amiliionMuslimTurkscomingtotheUKwithineightyears(Bennett,20|6).4
prominent.VoteLeave'campaigner,PennyMordaunt,saidthatavotetoremain
.vote to allow people from Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro,
i,, Eo.op. was a
join the EU soon (Lister, 2016)'
Serbia and Türkey to move here freely when they
Messagesplayingontheselargelyunfoundedfearswereactivelybuiltinto
.vore Leave' campaign materiai. one of their posters, for example, depicted
the
'Turkey (population of 76
an open door to the UK with the written message:
millron)isjoiningtheEU,.AnotherposterlistedcountriesSettojointheEU,
was' though - of
highlighting only Syria and Iraq on the map' Neither country
the focus in
.oo,," - on any kind of route towards EU membership. Still, with
thecampaignshiftingtoimaginedTur.kishmembershipandinventedincreased
MuslimmigrationintotheUK,thepollsstartedtomovernthefavourofLeave.
Athirdpostershowedaphotographofaseenringlyendlessflowofrefugees
crossing thiough the Balkani, mostly young males. Its
text read: 'Breaking point
continued: '"\x/e must
- the EU has failed us all'. At the bottom, theof message
our borders'' collectively, this
break free from the EU and take back conrol
constitutes a systemic campaign of misinformation in regard
to migration and
misrepresentation of the workings of the European union'
communication studies have shown that coverage of Muslims in
uK media
in outlets Supportive of the Conservative
is predominantly negative, especialiy
Pr.ty lWaterson, 2019, see Mádroane in this volume)' Accordingly'
surveys
was generaliy a threat to
showed that a majority of Tory members believed Islam
'\X/estern civilisation and a threat to the British way of life'

Violent turn
attack in Norway,
As has been seen in many other cases, such as with the Breivik
shootbrs in christchurch and El
discussed previousl¡ *.rá by the aforementioned
to violence (van Prooijen et al',
Paso, this sort of rhetoric and conspi r¿cy c^olead
was amongst the political messages that Thomas
2015). The misinformarion
 'ol prr-IJ-]rr sr,t\ rq sE . ir.r\JoN .ultHt}¡.tt)l:I
_¡o 1;qtlord {lep, srqJ
r,'rr¡re¡d Jqr uo oi-rq ,rrrü s -Jlrs[rrq p.]l .

1r^rarB s..\\.rr^ lr.qr p:iiurq:xo s3sr:rr: rrrr:io,*1.

.).t,rHAr,)1/ i //.,il,r¡,i,/) til.t(rllpl(1 .)ilt1il() ¡rl.t \t.^\ rtlllOil
\ .)\.ltlt .tuJ \ilill.rO-l ,,,,,,,,
-pu,,
-+o JrrL-)'f-rlu.o: JrJr pu.o-rE iiurrr-r¡do sd,o,rb ,,.1uq,f.,,,.¡r1
rr,,.,",r.1.r,r_r,
-leu t:lJr,J_)rr] Jrll iro tll.JlrJJprrn BuuJrrrrurs ._\r.\\_roN
,,,--,rr1.-, q.s rrJpprL
p.rlBr^J-t l-rrllr rqa .^u^\roN rrr
Ir^tJrfl Hrrr.rt¡sg s,r.)prrvJo 1JE]1. lsrJo,rrrl :ri{1 ,_
ss.rsrp Áq,r:,dr:i¡-r :r¡t .tsrxr iro.,qt
¡rouatlo I lrr:rrr..,:r¡cL1J tEr,r1-) rrpr.\\ srlt
lllqlrirlq Jq-l o1 pJqrrrsqrs oq^\ osoqr.{t1 sl)}r r..r[or,,-J. sr¡rlrurra Lr..

'(8]0¿'rtloo[g)
_r.rrJro Írrey¡
].oJo lslrr:roloH, . r..r()-)rrl p.q rr lBrJ:] rurl1.
.tra-rp¡rq.,
'>r¡¡ r¡'sFrf qsr¡*Lrrr :lrq.'r,r pedr-r prrR prs.qe srp.rrp lo]
p.q x¡s rurr\1rr.
tr lrtll Pllrs rtl '§l()¿ irr J:)rrrla-Irro]
.il¡td s ¡1c1,...
'r¡rli
[pnrrul] dl\ll r(ll 1r:.Srrr:lertfq
rrrrlsr,fl ¡r11 ,+o i-rrr¿JI JJrrr,ro-l '8n:-r-¡ rr.1y se.\\ Jrrc) .srurr[.)
lJrr],ru (r)r\)'1f
PIno^\ attr()s'pass.r-riiorrl f.1q rrll ruo.r-] lrxr;r1t ot cltr iiurpp:J
¡rlt s!.
"r,,q"¡,
rrrr,\\ prl,,,oss,, ]soirr ursrlBrrorr.u
rrrJl ÁJ:rrrrrir ':rs.t-r 1t:-rriio¡orpr prtr
Iii';l:l]"'.,:1.i"::::;,:'r:*,J.1',
"l:ill,"
IEr-rrJ 'r.rrlrr'cr e Srrr:ue,tpe-¡o ,, .
xt'r3 of p;'l-rpJnrt' p?r{ TTDIAJ ler{t lqnop oLr st^\ ".o,rr,-,..1 "ql
rr¡LJl prps JsEl e r¡t ur-, oiiprif :q.¡_
'(t¡1¡1¿'.rtr¡Ár¿
¡ rrrrqo--¡) ,tsjU rnElug tricl. por.lurpu¡.
-rPUI tlltrtr.IfJ cl;.;-1, 'rrrrlt-r$ ro; sI srq], tno pJur pprl rrl .I]r)lr
:rqt f urrnp lrr:-
pJIJllsJl lJllo] JrJl J-lolrq sJssJtrlrTy¡ .rriirtdrrrrl
trx.rJÉl:rq1 r-rr Sqirr lsf[urror1u¡ ¡1.,
'tt1 p¡cqdn rr-lo.lárl,r -rql io qrnr* Íq p;.,rr.r.¡¡ur rrrrq p.r[ rq ]pLIr r(r¡pr^¡ ¡rLrr,).r.
lt'.llnp;.rord Jsrl Jrll:irrung .\-rr.rJ[.lo]rl
qtlroq Iu]rrJirr.lo ,L,rolstrl
-t¡tr¡¡'(q¡¡¡¿ ''llr 1.1 rlloog) ruleu srrl tu,¡ryuol ()l " "3,,o1 ¡..f ,,¡
trno.) srlertsrSrr\ rJ_|srrr11rlSr-1--
rr{l trr L1.rlslr u:q,* .r,*:S :rq i¡i:: Jql s^p,u srrll _
¡urelrrg lo-, ,ropJ¡,I} .slotrl_il (-
tlltrrP sr:rtrtrr i¡r1,J, '{r,\rrtfJ srrpuVJo JS.J _

rql 1r.r.qe 5t'¡¡11¡1-r ss¡¡cl'ld:l p.rl ,ril

'Áic¡e.::rto¡ '.rJlrlr,r.rlri :(-rrur¡¡dns Jlnl^\
prrr aqr.1,,r.rr,.,,., tzuN rllrA\ prIIll \r....
.)s.orI srH 'siir,¡¡r[]r:,3 Árrei'p:p,,r11. riI r[.)rr[,&\-]. .cniir.r1
rluqrcl r¡sr¡BrrE sn,
-rrolorr :r1l Surpn¡-rursdno:¡_a rq8rr_rq ,iritrrr otrrr p.lESnlil
sr.,\\ JrrrAI seurolJ.[_
(tlt0¿ "J¡r ¡o r-rrr:qo1) ,oldoocl rtrq^\ ()t _rolrlr_¡.
r:putr s,toss:r8iie ¡r:rr.rolxa JsJrll jo
.s,IoltJoqpIfo-) Jrf],_Io Jrro slr -rJLI r!\ES rH .p[Jo.r.
(r-tJlsqY! ar¡r Frrrrrrnl ro+ ¿lrrrsrrods,rr
srE,]Jqr[ ])-ruJr JsJrflJo Jrro s¿_^\ x..1 ,S.r.,i.;
sril
tt¡ 'rJdc,:d tl.r\o irJilt.Io Jlrq-{\ pJ¡r-) Jrl JSorJt ;ry tdrrr.rluo:r
s-rolrr),rl
lsorrr.}n Jrll
pl)il .xl prrr) .ut)rssJ.rrSiit.rrrse¡¡¡tn iicrr:r,¡ a¡c1o:d
"rr,¡^-J,ir,r,,,lou iilr^\ pJssas(l!
sll^\ 3H 'iroor¡t i¡t:r¡ilsu.: ErcFJnq ¡qt rrr
pJ,\Jr[)Ll orl.&\ ]srlel p sp.\\ lrr^ .(9I{l¡
'Irurr¡g) rultlrolsrru u,,{\o srq l(.1} .pJrpur .pup
Ir^r s.pFor\\ rrllJo ri.)nrlr -ro3.r[qr:
t¡rds¡-r 'rrJ^\ rrpJrrr r{rRJ.,rsLr,.r srrr plr. s:rrr¡o,.r
1rr sie,fJclrl 3ur,u-13a¡ }ts([] J,\Jrr,rc
()t Jru():) plrrl lJIJrl ,f¡ar:os ilsrlr.¡11
"ra¡1 Ilrrl,tlIn]rllnur r L¡r¡r s:]ur,rsrunrtr rllocl-J.
¡.ll-toclcJns rttlIJ t []rJt t¡<,1¡¡3¡lr¡t trr:tlo;r-r:¡ *r l¡.\.)r[.rq,i.,ru"r, L sr,ri xo3 of

IrI r-.,rI o] prrrrrlrr¡s sE,\\ rrrtrA,o.,,, ,r.,,,.,o^r',1';1;1il;ir.il:lrfl:ffi:r.j,t.-^r::ll:

,\:u¡nlrlsuo--r u o¡ ir:,t lrq oo
di^J lnoqtl u sel\ xo.) of .u.r. o1 .).inJsIjc)^ tsrA\
sttl 1rI )¡Jllq tJyrEW Jr[] (.¡o crueJlrro f.rr.tqr¡
Jq],ror surpr:or1 ,"^l .,r.o,,r"r-1. ,i¡.r,,"
rt[1 lrI'oil,\'\ tll]r.o.,\\ p¡o--rr:;r,i-¡¡ ts p.)qi*]s prr.
lor{\- pi* áJtu{ pup JIrrl-rJo_rr,'\p\
e tr-r<t ¡ra¡1r-rr,I -rq 'rlo,\ Jql -rJo]¡q rlcr_\\ .o1
V ".,1.1,r,lrrrnr ri1tr"^.l .r.1 o1 p".rord rr.¡,1

¿¡ ,&oaql ,{re.¡rdsuo> erqernl aq

I
 48 Eirikur Bergmann

warnecl that crrrnic Norweqi¿rrs r,voulcr sooll

be in the .ri,orit.v i[ the porit
ical elite'"vas ¿llorvec'l to conti,rre destroyirre
Europea,."rrr."'arrd turn trle
colrti'e,t into a Eurabia. Fjordnran also contribrtecl
to the rveb portar, .(lates
of vienr.ra'. The,anre reñrs ro the siese of vie,.a
i, 16g3, rvháe Europea,s
defeatcd ali irivading ()ttoruan T1" overall .arrative was of unravelline a
s.cio-lilreral c¿bril t:ouslriri,g ".r,y.
rvith Islarric f<rrt:es of turr-rilig the cortinent
into
E,rabia. Breivik responded rvith a carl tr¡ ail
cultu¡:ar c.nsJrvati'es ro def,v the
demographic irrfiltration of Musrir,s and proposed
taking acrio,s to expel alr
MusLrrs frour Norrvav (Seierstad, 2015).
Arn.nqst otllers btr'rrq inro tlris *.itrcr Great l{eprace,rent
theory rvas trrr.
Australjan rerrorisr in Ner.v Zealand rvho, on
15 March 2019, killed fiftv_one
people in a Mosqtre shootine ilr crhristchurcrr
(o,,erfbrr, a,,ar.,j.'^ ;";;r;;
fbur-page so-r:alled rrr.rrifesrrr published b1.
the slrootcr wiis ,irrpty titled ,l_he
Great Replacenrerrt'. fu foilor,ve-d aI tropes
of the -w.rrite c"r,ui¿" co*spirac,v
theorv aricl pointed to classical eritagonisni
bctr,r,een the christi¿. and the
Muslim rvorld and alludt-cl to a globai w¿r betr.r,cen
the tu,o.
Tiie 28 year-oid referred he¿vilv t. the aforer¡re*tiorc-d Fre,ch
'rtta(-ker
Identitariau lnovelrrerlt. to r'vhich he hacl donated :r significant ¿urount
of'rrrorrev
(l)avev Ebner, 2019). He arso hailed
't I)on¡rrl T..,r,p as ,a syr,bor ;i;;;;
u'hite idelrtit,v and conulr.orl purpose'. Trle
srrooter furtlre.rrore revearcd that
br-fore the atrack lie had bee' give, the
bressi,s of Anclers Bleivik. .v,riti,g
itt'l-l¡t cuardian.Jasorr wilsort (2{-1()) ¡rotes rhat the
clrristdlurc}r sho<¡rer rvas
brought ,p in Australia i, a
¡reriod wrrcrr r¿cis,r, xe,ophobia and anti_Musri,r
hostilit,v had beerr nornralise,-I.
'l-ellingly for the
t,Ies, the notorio*s act was livestre;unecl 0n socral
rnedia
:urd shared rv:ith ,rilri.,s of people. Austraria, senirror fór
Anning, wr.tc in the afterlr-rath of the attack th:rt eueerrsland. Fr¿ser
the violence rvas the f:¿ult of
ntigratiotr ¿nd Mtlslinrs. '1.he trtrth is'. he rvrote, 'that
Islaru is ¡or like a,y orlrer
f,iith' It is thc rcligiotrs equivarent of fascism' (Ar.]azeera,
21119).
Although conspir:irorial politicians arrcr activis"ts
.rr,p"igr.irrg agai,st mrgra-
tio, canrrot, of conrso, Lre helci directry responsibre
for this r*¡rre,clous act of a
mldman, it is still equar,v impossible to.,,nrpr"tery
escap.- fror, the fact that
political nlessages are sonrctintes rccerved irr
dilferent rvrr, ,1r", ,t intenclecl
to be interprr-ted. As Arex Massi. (2Lr16) rvrote "y "."
,,r'I-rte s¡tettaforafterJo cox
rv¿s nnrrdertcl a rveek before the
Brexit \.ote: .When r.ou s]rout RREAKINCI
PoINT over arrd ovt'r agai, ,vou clon't get to be surpriseti
rvhen sr¡,rcore breaks,.
Massie arqued that rvhetr politics ate preselted
as :l rn.rter of life ancl tleath like
h.rJl.eL.nd,,ncirrtl¡,.Brr.xit(Jnrp;i¡qn_J\uguerti,,ri,rl-n.rtiol)¿lrur.rir,rl
_.dorr.t
be surprised if sorneolre takes your orro.,l f.,. it,.

Manifestation of the Eurabia consp¡racy theory

As I havc- illustrared in this chaprer. rhe
Eurabia .oltsplr¿c\ theory has proeressed
throusfr all three lr-aves of Nco_Nationalisnr.
It h:rs rrror.eil fronr the nrarsins aud,
 -ro] lltrle.InA aqi 8ur.(Jdcü:
ot .,rt¡o¡cI .,(¡Srrrsecl:or rurof¡q J^Erl su?Dnr. 'l-
^Jo¿Lll L

rsIPIIoIrrN-orN 'p¡le-rrs.i[r rrarq s*q sv '.rsr-ro,fo]

Jo Jr$ fq possed.r.s _r¡.. P-r,
':r11ssr le-)rtl]od Sarss¡¡d lsorrr Jrl] Jq ol pun(5 ual-]c) sp,\\
r¡orle_r8rruurr lrril -.
-sr-rd;ns lorr sifur¡:ad sr 1r ,:(llFar pue u<_¡rld"rr¡¡ri rrea.,rt1ac1 rrorlJotsip srr-[l
ualt,J
'(¡.¡¡11¿ 's1pnfl urnpr¡rr.rJa,t
trx¡rg "rr{l ur ado;n:1 ¡^r¡l ot ¡}o,r r Surl..,:¡rrlr rrl¡-rir,
ll0rurrof lsour oqr st,n norrrliirrrr..rr ]eqr prrncr-¡ fp,1s y¡ r ,.{lSrrrpuods:r.¡¡,..
(31i.¡¿ 'lrnoy¡¡) atrrrr arll ]u Jnssr u{l rr-^
itrrlrlod
Surssa,¡cl lsolr.r r¡,¡rlrriin,,,,- l.rr\
terlt prrs Áurru,rr,) puc f",rr8un¡1 ,¡rerrru.r(,I rlrl srrrlurlol ur slurpuoclse: _,
'1) I
sprrr{l-o.\\t Lrunorr lpti} purloJ 9lf¡¿ rr¡ ..rrIo.rnE irr s:r¡rTod30
¡ptl y r{rnrlr pall . '.s]1
-rruop [r]s ¡¡eri uolrr:r8r..r.rrJo s]rq rlrrrl] p{rnorp rrrqrp aq¡10 ,{.lrsuaSur oi{r r
- _
,-\
p::r:d.r,l ts.)1f,! Jrll ur slrrt-r8runrrr s--r8etuo:r.r.,id ,tro¡ Í1anr1t1", eql alrdsag
-¡. x()
'(prqr) ¡rr¡-¡ 'rod puno-rr: Á1rro o-roar d;x¡r
1 ftrlra: rrr rrrr[^\.uor]lrr.d!,.: PJI
étllJo lu¡l 'r:il ¿1 o1 prrrmorue srurlsnw rr:qr lt¡fnoql .¡Br:¿¡r uo alioatJ .s;lt¡r
lurl
Polr{In Jr[] rrI 'lúaJ l-rcI g 15,'r¡¿r'r:r¡rt:ru Á;qr,(rr1eo-r uar¡,u ,rrorrtlnilocl er{l-}o lur-- r,+(
:otl 19 dn ¡PPrrr sllll[snIN ]rt[] lr[.3nor[] lpntr^.u¡.1 xll rrr strrapuoclse-r,;-rilrrg rr¡
Pll
'rrorlrlndor{ s.'rlsltw Jrl] Jl.rurls¡r)r\o
ol prrél alcfosd rúill pulto] )^rrl s¡rpn.]S
' 'rrÍrs¡JlI rr".dorna ,(-rr¡.rh*¡lrror ¡qr olur a1r-r8alur
l¡rI
¡*ru a8r:1r,rrr;
[Irlsnl IEuol]lplrll JlJlll ruou Át,ut: .¡.tott¡ (,1 p.r1.):dxr ';aaa.tr.cirl ':rr oldooc{ os.-r11,
,lo l
;o íttt14¡ 1¿¡g¿ '.uo¿) lu¡:,¡¡d ff pur ¡.¿ rrrr.&\l)cl ol ¡srl IIt^\ uorlrJnilocl urrls¡l\ fJ\ r
¡qr'090Z.ret,i aql .(q ttrlr s¿]l?-)rpur r-nrrr,) (lll¿Jsall ¡rlt-Io Ltortrrulrtsr ,\ PIP
',orlrn .r:do.rng aq] lrrqtr.{\ .orlrlndrd Jqt ^\¡d
_}o trrar -rocl a,rr¡ ilq8no-r fluo .ro:
P'rlurlolrB stlllllnW'fil0¿ PUP LIOZrrl L)rp;r.rer qrirl.rr'srsur or{tJo oIr,lt rrll r¡l ttttl
'Prrrrrlrrrlrur srsrrrlrorl'N-or'r¡¡ ,(urur
ler¡,rt .(11:ux.r Ilrrs sr rpr{r ,J'^J,^"OH ..(e.i$, .¡r: sP r\
-se-rp iue rrr ru¡rrrlrror rrr:oc{.-rnE Jr{l .,() u()rlJrlrrsirol.,rqcIzr30,r;p cql-r., rlJn*l
3ul
.rJtFr lo, prp tr-ri5
*Jo tr.lo sr;Fn1ar Jo pr)ou *JpPns oql ,q8.oi1t ,,(¡6rrrrso:;1u1 lrt[-
'slqiir.rq r\rlr ol froar¡t BrqrrrnE eqt
lrl8nolcl EI3¿ Jo srsu: aa8rgo,
".JJ P¡\
'IE^PIlJrl Á¡rr
-+o
ro/Prr. il¡.r*uJo p¡sn)lr rq ü¡ql rrr-) J-lrrJlsfx¡o: lrqarrecl prrr,rsrlprnllr-l qru
-IllIluI lo.rll rlnlo,\Plr ltrtll )sor{l 'llnsal sv 'rse¿s ¡ql ur rrorrlrsrrrillls¡
_¡o 1;oclclns ur
ilr le ¡o snor8r¡:r-l ,r;t iri¡t ]on lu lf,rllaq,r -Jr, .¡,trt:r¡dsJj,tr ,sr¡rl]^¡r\l ll¡r ol pJtn rrlr
-l[[¡r;r i¡|e"t:rro8 sr t{or]r.rrlrrr snil .;do,rnE lrlrl:)o¡rrp pur
l¿,¡¡qrl :ql Buriortsap .{.¡r,
pr¡t Sgrln¡rruop srrrrlsllw
-io .\\JrA frtclÁlrJodr ur sr ,{_roorll Jril rrr prrJrluJ JTI.L
'(0Irl¿ '3trr:i¡rf nrqsoN
¡ 1l.:,ttrrrry) ,atlo-rnE ¡¡nbuo¡ o1 rrr¡ci p".,*,,,p-rno. -Álr
tlo l-rrd s. Lr-lA\¡lA uol_lo .,s_rJpp^rrr sll pJ.¡,tpJtr, ,(llrronb;r_g rr.rrirrr¡4¡ .ts.Vf\ Jql JtIO
rtr pasrlErr.ll.)rr Jurol.l(i ,(¡tpr,tr a^prJ prrr{ snll "*" .ucr[p
-Io sluJurrluos r{rr[st.lry_r]uV ri{l
3'toc1 se osru rrq 'rouulr¡r st paÁrrtrrod .,{.¡rr. 1o, 'prapfir .sr rr*rsnw
rtlr '.sn, or lrsrr{r r llrrrsod ,J¡rlr(), Jrlr sE srrrJsnw prr? urclsl ¡trrd.{].rr1.,-rr
Jo sr¡ruorlrsorl IIE
¡rrlr8eu oql sr srrlrr)os rrratsryI\ rrr rrqoqdoftrclsJ )^]ur]ap (61¡;¿) u"rily 1

suq3 -)ql
'r'rrr{ p3rlsrlqrls¡ rr¡Jq srll sE '}-,rrpr¡l
Ir(rorrri.¡ {rreur Lcl plat¡tin rrr¡rl ur^3 srq olrr r
Í:o:r¡l rr{l'u¡qt atuls .qtg¿ srsuJ arErr-1.x ull ,1rurj.(J¡er:rorls. ..,r,,"r.rrr,,r,,r.r,1,
-}o r lil
otur,(I'-ig pr.\ol...(,roaqt erq.rrlg rrlt lrlqt !¡rr\.r^\c,q .¡^r1,\\ pr*{t aqt rrr,{1u. sr,rr
STIP:
rl 't002 ,r;qttr:1d.rq [ [ Lro s{]rltlt lst.roll¡l rr[] -raUr_. ,(1¡:r::tlsa .a^r^\ plroras rqt rrr
s.)ltl
Itrcutrrro:d Jlorrr r{lnt'u ¡rur.)¡cl t¡ .strtrlod ut.tclol¡¡gr,., _(.raqcfrr:r.l ¡qt (ro
pJ^ur[] ¡rp
,(¡uo 1¡rrs lr'3Ap,\\ ]s,frr 3r[1 rrJ 'urpa.rrsur[ür !sosrl orrros ur
")q] olur pJrrnp¿J3 rr¡AJ -lil.
6p rfuoaql ,{te.lldsuo: ptqeJnl éql
50 Eirikur Bergmann

their own political gain. Alongside greater prominence of the conspiracy theory, BBC NC

violent acts conducted in its name have also increased. BBC.

Septer
To properly understand the spread of the Eurabia conspiracy theory, and Becker- J
other similar contemporary conspiracy theories, the revolutionary change in the
-\-er¡'
mechanism of the media, which the world was rushing through in less than two euror
'With
decades with the emergence of digital media, has to be taken into account. Bennetc
it, conspiratorial populists have been able to bypass the previously powerful gate- Lond,
keepers of the mainstream media, and instead bring their combative and polar- Brrgmar
ising political messages directly to the public. As a result, people have become Palgr
Bery:raar
exposed to much more unscrutinised information than ever before. Sometimes,
Ilacr
proponents of the story have alluded to the full conspiracy theory, of malig-
Bloom- I
nant domestic forces orchestrating a population change in a campaign of ethnic G.n-q
cleansing aimed against the white Christian population. : '; r'IÑ-1

An extensive quantitative study measuring the spread ofthe Great Replacement (acce
theory found that between Aprll 20L2 and April 2019 one and a half million Booth, I
tweets referred to it (Davey & Ebner, 2019). The volume steadily grew over the S*fx
Ca¡¡'
period. The theory has also been quickly moving into the mainstream, with
Illas-
both the mainstream media and traditional political parties beginning to follow Camus.
suit (Ibid). Cob¿in-
As a result of this change, previouslv marginalised conspiracies have moved Tho¡
to the mainstream, sometimes even adopted by establishment politicians. The .the-e
progression of these kinds of tales in society is indicative of the snowballing -to-j
effect of conspiratorial populism. Given the right conditions they can trundle Cobain.
'Whether the Coronavirus Crisis of Joc
like an uncontrollable avalanche down a hill.
,,"uk*r
2020 will lead to fears of a Great Replacement in the West which will be aimed
SePtr
against Asians in general, or Chinese people in particular, remains to be seen. Copser'.
IÍgit
Note Daser-..
of lvl
1 This can be compared to contemporary conspiracy theories in which COVID-19 is
cati(
imagined as a biopolitical weapon released by Muslim migration to Europe.
e-\
Du1'ver
References lFe
vism
Akesson, J. (2009) 'Muslimerna ár vá¡t stórsta utlándska hot', Aftonblader, 19 October Fallaci.
2019, http://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/debattamnen/politlk/atticlet!)49791,.ab Fekete.
(accessed 12 september 2020). Harriso
Aljazeeru (2019) 'New Zea.land Mosque Attacks Suspect Praised Trump in Manifesto', ol1 t
Al-Jazeera, 16 March 20t9, https://www.alazeera -com/net¡s/2019/03/zealand-mos Lon,
ques-attack-suspect-praised-trump-manifesto-190315100143150.htm1 (accéssed Hellstr<
SJune 2020). Popt
Allen, C. (2070) I sl am o ph o b i a, L ondo n: Routled ge. Houell
Bat, Y. (2005) Eurabia. The Euro-Arab Axis, Cranbury: Fairleigh Dickinson University Pica
Press. Il Fattc
Bawer, B. (2007) Whíle Europe SIept: Ho¿v Radical Islam is Destroying the West from 23!;
Within, New York City: Anchor Doubleday Knopl -aiu
 ' (OZOZ aunf g passac:e) ¡776¡9 ¿¡ etr.re-
rqf,-e-ruorzues-ouoSSlgur-aqf,-3ur.rou-rrE)grpou-an-oluauu lred-euorz etBv;o;utr¡ 97
/Ol/tl1z/tyouerpnonborre3y'mnu'¡1;drtr7'.auorzer8rurtul, (tfOZ,) ourrp¡ron§ ol¡EJ II

:ryo¡ uor¡elsu?¡I :'su?¡I 'ura¡S 'f) uors,ug?rs (S1OZ) -W ,Uj:ji#."

^{aN '(uortrpa 's1oog uqrq8rag :uopuo"J .sagto¿ tnyndo¿
lsrlouotlqN uolltqutpup|s aLfl puo uotwN aql Swnpotda¿ :§n $n& (stoz) .v .uo¡rslleH
'
IOZ-ZBI a8pa¡rno¡ :uopuol
:

'wpausutory aqt 8udwnry (spa) uoop¡n¡n¡ 'f pue urrure¡1 .g .1 q ,.aro¡ trxarg eql uo
suo¡¡dac¡ad uot¡rrSruru¡;o lcrdru¡ aq¡ :Á¡rar¡r8a¡;o rq8re¡¡ arl¡ (gI0Z) .S 'uosurtH
's1oog osra :uopr¡oT '1r7fi¿ ary{o asr¿ aqt puv utlrly :§aut1 qnul s,ado.tng (gI0Z) .Í.a¡a{a¡
'suorl?rrlqn¿ Iruorleura¡ul rlozzr¡ :{¡oA ruaN 'uosoa¿
fo?2/ol ?ql (SOOZ) .O .rtrEll?J
'(6767 nquatdag ¿1 passac») 7adorna-ur-ursra
Irtr¡-Jo-asrr-aq1 /Í9,/fO/gT11,/6ro'¡rurnofarouadorne.rru*ar7 ¡:sdttrl
,glOZ f:rnrqa¿
1
'mo¡¡adotng '.adorng ur u¡sr^rteN Jo esr)I eq¡. (gl0¿) .f ,r¡sa1¡ ..¿e .f .rypuaaÁng
ry
'(0ZOZ ¡aque¡dag ¿1 passerce)
Trusrrua
¡lxe-paru¿a¡lsurEru-Jo -saf,uanbasuo¡-tualor^-eqt-¡uaura¡eId¡¡-¡ra¡8- aqll suortm
qqnd-psr78ro'¡rqo¡Spsraur,tr ¡¡:sdttr4.1uel 4u!,lt OS:f .,usrurerlxg paure¡¡surrwJo
saruanbasuo3 ruelor^ aql :r,luau¡are¡da¡ rrar5 rqJ,,, (6102) .f ,rauqg :9 .-f .ltaae6
'urllru¡f,rw anrrS¡e¿ :uopuo1,itowg8a1

'(6¿q¿ .requarde5
¿1 passacre) ¡ep"rnur-xof,-of-¡o-Ár¡n8-puno;-¡rrru-sÉuottrt/gz/^ov/gl11/sr$eu-4n/
tuoc'urrpren8agrrn m,tTT:dtry 'g1¡Z raqruardag g¿ 'uorptna aqa .,:;lpmy¡ xo3 of Jo
roJ aJI'I ro; pa¡rrf rrr¡4¡ struorlf tsr¡o¡raI rq8r¡-re¡, (S1OZ) .W .ro1,fu¡ ry ,-¡ ,urcqo3 al
(9797 rcqwatda5 ¿ 1 passaccr) raprnur-xor-o [-ol-
' 3r
pa¡-pa:rrt¡-8uru¡nq-aols-rr er7-sell;,orlt/ CZ/ ef
n*r"t17;dtlr1 '9102 ¡eqIIIa oñ tZ 'uptpnnD ?ql ^ou/gÍOZ/s¡rlau-{n/úor-urrprtnEaql-
..xoj of reprnl4J ot rrBW srlllorlf
pa'I leql pereH Sururng-aa,o¡g aq¡ (9lOZ) '¡¡ 'ro¡,fu¡ ,.¡ .uaaare¿ ..I .ureqo3 F
ry
'f,requrá)I pr^?(I :auras-rns-,fipna¡ -Tuawan¡dwa¿ pupt) ?-I .(ttOZ) .t .snu¡¿O
¡A
-
(0202 ¡aqruardag ¿1 passe»t) xor-of-dnr-3o-qlrrn-pa3nqtr-rr?ur-srrs
orltlgylun.f¡9102/sl*eu-1.n/utoc'uerprrnSaqyzl.,u,m¡¡:dtlr4 ,g1g7 e:o:r.f 91 ,uorpnn2 q1

atll',,Jxr.altg roJ ruopaer{'s¡otrttl oI qr¿e6l, sr eur¿N srH }rnoC s¡a1 rcadsng AI

reprnl¡J xo3 of, (91 eunf '9102) 'N 'uosznr¡g rg ..y .uosur¡arrr¡ .n .ppo(I ,.)I ,rlroog u(
'(6¿6¿ raqruardag ¿¡ passarce) tü
ZtZggzÍ,¡-ro.o\¡rao-Burpur¡s-s¡a8-raleads-dllnTsrntodTs^.rau/In.o)-¡orrrrr¡.¡r\^,\..!a//:
sd¡¡q '8102 raqruerdag lZ '?il\uo tott¡1¡ ',,,sralrqEneg rn6 Jo tsnef,oloH,, r s8ur9
QI
EurruoorS uersy 3urqr3 rer¡z ,,¡n3errr8sr6,, paput.rg ¡aleadg ¿¡y¡, G1OZ) .A.ruoolg )
'uEIIrrrItew -t
a,rrrEle¿ :uopuol 'wsyndo¿ »1dyo¡¡ {o ast¿ ?Lll :utsrleuotJzN-oaN 6ZOZ) .A.uuzru6rag
'uEIIrErf,EW aarrSp¿ AI
:uopuo1 'uouowo{ursr¡4¡ {o stg¡o¿ aq¡ :wsr¡ndo¿ q ,botrdsuoa (glOZ) .a .uuru8rag -l
'Eurqs4qn¿ {reqerlg :uopuol
'lnpr71 4tot¡g s,r8ydwo) aaoa'1 aqt{o,oo1g aprsu¡ aqJ:qnl) ttxatg btll '(sloz) 'o 'rauuag g:
' (679¿ nqwatdag
¿1 passacre) ¡urrq'ursr¡ruorleu-uorr¿¡Srruurr-uaparrr,sT adorna o,
.6102 rsn8ny .§?rull
/pqot/r/Ol/g1/6I1z/titú'serur¡,(u',rl.uar2:sd¡rrl Ol 419 ilaN e¡
a,/¿ '.us{¿uorre¡1 rq8r¡-re¿Jo asr)I aqt puqag 3unl)Ew I?qoIC ar{J, (6¡6¿) -f :apag
.6¿6¿ raqurardag P
E1 passa:cu) ggLgl1gl,-1,rt/s/rrau/üor'rqg',lrraa,,ra77:sdnq .gI0Z ¡eque oN tZ .3gg
'.rrEW srtuoql or srlrtruaü Sunualua5 s.aSpnf :¡eprnry xo3 o[, (91¡¿) sara¡ 3gg

19 Ároaq¡ Áre.rrdsuo: e¡qe.rn¡ aq1

52 Eirikur Bergmann

'Immigrazione, Parlamento Ue chiede la modifica della legge Bossi-Fini', 23 October l¡

2013. ii
Iyer, D. (ed.) (2001) 'American Backlash: Terrorists Bring Home 'War in More'Ways j

than One', South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow. SAALT, https://web.archive.org $

/web/2010I2Q3740832/bttp://statíc.9Tldigitalarchive.orglREPOSITORY/OTHE l

R-OBJECTS/6object.pdf (accessed 15 September 2020). 5

Judis, J. B. (2018) 'The Nationalist Revival: Trade, Immigration, and the Revolt Against
Globalization', Colwnbia Clobal Reports, Columbia Universiry. 1
Kinnvall, C., &Nesbitt-Larking, P- (2010)'ThePoliticalPsychologyof(De) Securitization: I

Place-Making Strategies in Denmark, Sweden, and Canada', Enui¡onment and Planning rL

D: Society and Space23(6): 1051-1070.
Klein, Andreas M. (2013). 'The End of Solidarity? On the Development ofRight-Wing l

Populist Parties in Denmark and Sweden', in Grabow, Karsten, and Florian Hartleb TI
(eds"), E*posing the Demagogues. Right-Wing and Nationat Populist Parties in Europe. .

Brussels: Centre for European Studies, 105-131. l

Liste¡, s- (2016). 'vore-Leave Faces criticism over Turkey "criminals" cleirn, The I

Independent, 22 l,4.ay 2076, bttp://www.independenr.co.uk/news/uk,/politics/eu-r

eferendum-vote-leave-faces-criticism-over-turkey-crim
t
inals-claim-a7041876.htm| .

(accessed 15 September 2020). E

Magali, B. (2013) 'The French National Front from Jean-Marie to Marine Le pen:
Between Change and Continuiry' in Hartleb and Grabow (eds) Exposing the
Demagogues: Right-Wing
Adenauer Stiftung: 1,67-186.
and National Populkt Paities in Europe, Berlin: Konrad u
Massie, A. (2016) A Day of Infamy', The Spectator, 16 June 2016,Itttps://blogs.spectator
. co.uk / 2016 / 0 6 / t- day - of-infamyl (accessed
5 Septembe r 2020) .
1

Merkl, P. FI. and Weinberg, L. (2003) RighrWing Extremism in the Twenty-frst Century,
Abingdon: Taylor & Francis.
Mikbakhsh, M. and Kramar-Schmid, U. (2010) Jórg Haiders geheime Geldgescháfte
mit dem irakischen Diktaror Saddam Hussein', Profil,7 August 2010, https://ww
w.profil.at,/home /joerg-haiders-geldgeschaefte-diktaror-saddam-hus sein-274862
(accessed 15 September 2020).
Mounk, Y. (2018) The People Vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom is in Danger and How to Saue
If, Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Mudde, C. (2016) On Extremkm and Democracy in Europe, London: Routledge. ú(
Nordensvard,J., & Ketola, M. (2015) 'Nationalist Reframing of the Finnish and Swedish
Welfare States-The Nexus of Nationalism and Social Policy in Far-right Populist', t
Social Policy ü Admini*rution 49(3):356475.
Ónnerfors, A. (2017) 'Between Breivik and PEGIDA: The Absence of Ideologues 7Á
and Leaders in the Contemporary European Far-Right', Pdtterns oJ Prejudke 2(51):
159-175. li
Ónnerfors, A. (2020) "'The Great Replacement" - Decoding the Christchurch Terrorist
Manifesto', in E. Leidig (ed.) Mainstreaming the Clobal Radical Right, CARR Yearbook
201 9 / 2 02 0, Stuttgart: Ibidem: 20911,8.
Ónnerfors, A.
(2021) "'Folkhemmet": The "People's Home" as an'Expression of
Retrotopian Longing of §weden Before rhe Arrival ofMass Migration', in S. Harbison,
E. Einhorn, Mh. Huss (eds) Managing Multicultural Migration, Madison: Universiry of
Wisconsin Press. Forthcoming.
Pew Research Centre (2017) 'Europe's Growing Muslim Population', Pew Research Center,
29 November 2079, https:/ /www.pewforum .ory/2077 /77/29leuropes-growing-mus
lim-population/ (accessed 15 September 2020)-
 'ssa¡d 3rrre6 aJtoNJo f3lsrearu¡:arueq e¡toN
'adotng u utlsl puo wsllogol) Tsuroso aql :suettDtttu?il aqt efOZ) ¿ .f .aranbr.r2
Tuawarroy4¡
.
'f,uJ suonr)rlqnd uredorng pue r{f,ue¡{
:sqed 5)uoq q ilp{ap luo mb saauuo a|uotonb sa1 - stotuot{apDms a-I $tOZ) .5, tnounua2
-ZgbInf :(¿)¿ tqdotSoa2 pntln) g
pDoS ',¿I¡leuruecJo arrts eq¡ ur ust¡ox Surgreuo5 :ursr)B):l I?rnrInO, (IOOZ) .:f .ua¡a
-yS-SZ:O)i ursr1utrpo¿ tpn1g ary rc{Tnutno[,.Í,Bo¡oap¡ Lrn¿
{o
¡tuorrN rlsr¡rr[J ur uo6r¡a¡3o alo11 arll :¿spr]uepa¡O u?rtsur{O, (O1OZ) .S ,a8prrqpoo6
' (97¡7 nquatda g
E 1 passar:r) Lrr¡o d-cr¡qnd,sr-pauuqsua-l¡1r
rrtrrrrd-sr-erqoqdoruElsr-IIa,,rr-a:eq-ta3-ain-prp-rvroq-8ur1sE-ar?-su?rprl srtl/ Ll/fiw/
6l0z/ze]Jsnuofrrrüoryruo3'uBrprznSaql'arr,'r,m7/:sütq,610z q3¡ew ,a2tprDn) aql
¿I
'.trlBrlsnY ur lrr¡o¿ trrlqnd s¿ paul¡gsug,(11ecr¡crr¿ sr zrqoqdorurlsl '(610Z) '['uos¡16
'(0202 ¡e$xetda5 E1 passarcz)
1BZOZgtglZ1SfÍ Lg6g / swe.as/aadsrep¡rmtraa8Truoc.relrir,.l / /.sdnq ./|Q¿ rsn8ny g¡
'nndvap\muaa7@p*nl'ptow o¡ 'pa:e1da¡ Surag sr uorrulndo¿ rn6 , (ftOd -C ,s¡aplrif,
'a8pa¡rno¡ :uopuol 'orrtoutpumg u! sa1nd tqlld awa4xg (E16¿) srapuy .plaJpt^
(9¿6¿ requralde5 91
passaccr) spug-,(pn1s-rof¿u-a¡rl¿3eu-sr-s1¡¡{silrr-Jo-e6r¡a¿ro¡-s¡rrau-In-rsoru/60/
yrf¡61671smau¡utoc'uerpttn8aql',uaa,r,r77:sdr1q ,6fOZ K¡t[ 6 ,uorptor,D a¡l¿ ,.sprrrJ
dpnr5 role¡4¡ 'aar¡r6a¡ sr s,,{snw ¡o a6rraao3 sr\{aN Xn lsow, (6102) .f .uosrarr6
'8¿E-0¿§ aq,
:(g)9 atuaog ,Q4ouo*a¿ puo 1ot&oyoryl.s¿ /prros ..sar¡oaq¡ ,(rurrdsuo3 ,r¡r4.g ,,rrprr¿ ued
usrrue¡txa I?f,rrrlod, (SIOZ) zf .J .ralod pur .trAI .¿ .y .¡aurrrnor¡ ,.¿¡-.f .uafioor¿ uue
's{oog IuITq
os¡a¡ :uopuo.I 'tr1f,1¿ n¿ s,u1w1tg {o as!¿ eul :aydoa¿ fuso¡¡ tpoo1g .C ,gufit¡I I-na/
G1g7)
'(6¿6¿ aunf g passaocr)
¡u a\l
ry fn9lLZ6-SlJrruo¡-surrlsnru-ror¡oJur-ruof,snlr3q-¡a^o-rurolsTadornaTpl¡orrt/s1!^au
/1n'of,'luepuadapur',r.lar.arr77:sd¡lrl
.1002 raquarda5 ,ruapuadapu| ,r/J ..s{¡eru3u 'adol
¿7
.¡srr¡rlsnry ¡orraJul, ruof,snl¡ag .ra^o rurors, (;aqualdag ,ÍOOT,) yapuadapuy at¡¡
LZ qEF¡
' (6¿6¿ aunf g passa:*)
lurq.qcsads-pooI€[-Jo-sra^r)f -sl 6uI¿
Ia^ od-rlroug/gzggtgt,/NaunuooTln.oc.qdrr8a¡a¡.r,a,.vrrrrr77:sd¡¡q .¿002 ¡aqua^oN
9
'r¡dotta1aa t¡1vq aq¡'.qcaad5 poolgJo sra^r)f slla^/\od q)oug, (¿667) qdotEa1aa tNO ,rLL Swui
'(OZOU ¡aquatdeg g1 passa»z)
Tuor¡rrrdsur-tusr¡ndod-rq8rr-rt3-dün: :UOI¡
¡-PItuoP-lEuo¡lru-tuorJ-uad-3I-aur¡Eru-t{tru3g-suouu¿q-e^ets/ol)rtrrlna'orr¡r¡od',n
ao,a,r,77:sdrrq 'Lloz q)nw zz 'Dgllo(l ,.efuE¡J sa^ol uouuEg a¡rers,
kloz) .1-.g ,uoru,(5 lSUr¿
'a8pa¡rno¡ :uopuol 'u?d a.I o, utpt?cl utotl :»uzq ut ylfi!¿ auaqx1 aql (LOO).[,spl"Hs
'urllrurlrry aaaS¡r¿ AHJ
:uopuol 'wpsol qsttttg tDA4-tsod u, sdur-I louottpuaruI puv qno ,2§nIAt (LIOZ).1¡ .r3lJ?qs 8¡o'¡
'xnolrg pu? snÉ¡ts tr¡rrJ :olso (.surr¡ ,qlrag s,ft¡
'g) l.onto¡¡ q a:essvry aqt puú 4rat?lg wpuy {o /;,osg aqa :s¡7 {o aug (S1OZ) .V .p?rsrar3s
'ruoJJE,I ¡raqo¡ :sr&¿ sap dwvS a.I eL6il .[.¡rdsz¡ ¡eqo
")utps

¡g Á.roaq1 Árel¡dsuor erqern3 aql