The case for secure borders

Yascha Mounk writes:

Remarkably, these developments are fueled, not slowed, by young voters. In Poland, a plurality of voters under the age of 30 supported the far-right Konfederacja. In France, the National Rally did a little better among voters under the age of 35 than it did in the population as a whole. In Germany, the young are now significantly more likely to vote for the far right than the old, with the AfD out-polling the Greens among those who are younger than 25.2

There are many reasons for the growing strength of the far right. But it is clear that one reason outweighs the others: Voters simply don’t trust mainstream parties to control immigration. And that concern is now especially pronounced among the continent’s young people, who are more accustomed than their elders to living in a genuinely diverse environment, but also more directly exposed to the problems that flow from a lack of integration. A few years ago, David Frum admonished Democrats that, “If liberals won’t enforce borders, fascists will.” Moderate parties in Europe would do well to heed the same lesson.

In the 2019 EU elections young Germans voted 35% Greens and 5% AFD. In 2024 they voted 17% AFD and 11% Greens. That change isn’t because young Germans have suddenly become fascist. It is because they want secure borders.

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