Italian comedian Beppe Grillo’s Five-Star Movement joins ranks with the far right - World Socialist Web Site

8.8.14

Italian comedian Beppe Grillo’s Five-Star Movement joins ranks with the far right - World Socialist Web Site: The Five-Star movement (M5S) of Italian politician Beppe Grillo has joined the ultra-right-wing EFDD (Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy) fraction in the European Parliament. Grillo’s movement steps into the shoes of the Northern League and the fascist Fratelli d’Italia, which were affiliated to the same fraction during the last legislature.

The biggest party in the EFDD, with 24 deputies, is the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), which advocates the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union and defends anti-immigrant policies. Grillo’s Five-Star Movement has 17 deputies.

Included in the EFDD are five smaller right-wing parties, each with one or two deputies: the Swedish Democrats, founded by a former member of the Nazi Waffen-SS; Jo�lle Bergeron, a former member of the French National Front; Rolandas Paksas from the Lithuanian party Order and Justice (TT); the Czech Free Citizens led by Peter Mach; and the Latvian Peasant Union headed by Iveta Grigule.