Switzerland’s controversial move to limit the number of immigrants says a lot about the increasing anxiety about immigration across Europe.
Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), called the results of the Swiss referendum “wonderful news.”
“A wise and strong Switzerland has stood up to the bullying and threats of the unelected bureaucrats of Brussels.”
Meanwhile, Austria’s far-right FPO party said Austria would vote accordingly if given the choice, while the France’s National Front praised Switzerland’s “lucidity.”
There’s been no shortage of handwringing over multiculturalism in general and the free movement of citizens in particular inside the 28-member union.
Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s anti-immigration National Front party, is gaining followers among mainstream voters, according to a poll results released this week by TNS-Sofres.
Forty-six percent of individuals polled said Le Pen is “the face of patriotic conservatives, with traditional values,” while 43 percent said she leads the “nationalistic, xenophobic extreme right,” the survey showed.
Analysts fear that with tiny Switzerland leading the way in the push to limit the freedom of movement of immigrants inside of the European Union, anti-immigration parties may gain a yet another boost in popularity.
