On Saturday I listened to an interview to a Belgian politician who was saying that Governments should let out of the political scene extreme rights parties. He claimed that they receive too much visibility from the media and this is a reason for their popularity. He suggested not talking to them, as simple as that.
Some agreed with him, others did not, because we are a democracy and everyone shall have the right to speak, express their opinion, and fight for their ideas.
However, if you think about the values they refer to, they don’t look democratic at all. They are ultranationalists, xenophobic, chauvinists, racists, homophobic, transphobic, and ultimately reactionary.
I don’t want to analyse here what their politics would lead to, I think there are many examples in the world that speak for themselves.
What I would like to know from you, is what you would do. Let’s imagine you meet one of the alt-right movements, and you would have the chance to talk to them, what would you do?
In Europe, besides the national parliaments, we also have the European Parliament. There are also representatives of extreme right parties who don’t believe in the European values, actually they fight against them.
Why are they members of an institution they believe should not exist, then? I would set a condition for being elected that would state something like – I declare under my honour that I truly believe in European values and will do anything in my capacity to stand for them.
In my line of job, scientific research field, we ask applicants to sign the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. This code lays out reliability, honesty, respect, and accountability as fundamental principles of research integrity.
Do you think it would be worth having anything like that for politicians joining public institutions as well?
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