Far-Right Movements in the Covid-19 Era

Far-right movements in different forms are gaining momentum around the world especially in Europe and the United States. Though not new, the ideology appears to be manifesting in forms which are challenging to police or managed by security entities. This chapter explores the far-right movements and their intended goal which often makes mobilisation and violence inevitable, and a common occurrence in Europe. It further reviews far-right activities in the onset and immediate global response to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak with the aim to identify patterns, target groups and impacts of COVID-19 on far-right activities in Europe. A conceptual review of data, publications and reports on far-right movements since 2020 points to overlapping interactions between hate crime and extreme violence following a period of Far-Right online mobilisation, driven by the mission to deliver varied forms of national outcomes. Findings reveal a correlation between COVID-19 and far-right movements, especially mobilisation for the ideology using different online platforms. Though less than anticipated attacks were carried out during the pandemic, the commitment to mobilise more adherents to the movements using COVID-19 specific conspiracies provides strong links geared towards events that could endanger the security and safety of the public. The implications for public security as a whole, and for European Union security policy and counter-terrorism strategies are evaluated to highlight the limitations of current policy and strategies in preventing, mitigating impacts of COVID-19 which appears to be a game-changing event in the world and for the Far-Right movements which used the pandemic to innovate.