In Italy, Ms. Meloni has proposed a constitutional amendment that would automatically give the party with the highest number of votes (currently her Brothers of Italy) 55 percent of the seats in parliament. She says it would make Italian governments more stable, but her opponents fear it could also create opportunities for a future autocrat.
Following Orban's playbook would face strong constitutional pressure in France, with its fierce commitment to freedom and human rights, as embodied in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. But if the National Rally presidency and controlled Parliament, all bets would be off.
“The normalization of the right does not necessarily make it less extreme,” said Ms. Tocci, the Italian political scientist. “When restrictions ease, perhaps with Trump's return as president in November, Meloni will be eager to show her true colors. If Trump and Orban agree to force Ukraine to surrender, they will not think twice.”
That said, the right's ascendancy is not universal, uniform, or assured. Poland led the liberation of Europe from the Soviet empire through a protest movement, culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Last year, Poland ousted its nationalist ruling party, Law and Justice, in November elections, which had led to an attack on the rule of law. The party had also promoted xenophobic hatred, depicted the country as an eternal victim and distanced Poland from the European Union.
“The Poles said: 'We have a more positive vision that can replace a dark view of human and national life,'” said German State Secretary Mr Bagger. “They pulled back from the edge.”
Underestimating the ingenuity and resilience of democracies is always dangerous. But so does ignoring the unimaginable. As Mr. Bardella's beloved Victor Hugo wrote, “Nothing is more threatening than the impossible.”