A surge in racist attacks across Europe has intensified concerns that heated election campaigns and divisive political rhetoric are emboldening xenophobia, with rights groups warning that inflammatory language from candidates and parties is spilling from the ballot box onto the streets. In France, Amnesty International described the “virulence of the political and media debate” ahead of the 2026 presidential election as “extremely worrying,” pointing to racist attacks and abuse directed at the rule of law, including a far-right hate campaign targeting Bally Bagayoko, the black mayor of Saint-Denis, and racist letters sent to black lawmakers. The anti-immigration National Rally had also railed against a “tyranny of judges” after Marine Le Pen was barred from public office, with the judge in that case receiving death threats.
Similar patterns have emerged elsewhere. In Spain, analysis of Vox’s 2023 electoral campaign found that regional candidates published xenophobic hate narratives on official accounts, exploiting societal fears and economic insecurity through victimist, alarmist, and dehumanizing rhetoric that constructed a deliberate “us versus them” binary. The party even violated electoral law by posting hate messages on reflection day, raising ethical concerns within the framework of European integration built on cooperation and mutual respect. In Britain, hate crimes surged around the Brexit vote, with the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner condemning the “racist rhetoric” that emerged during the campaign and noting that senior political figures used stigmatising language about migrants. More recently, the UN Special Rapporteur on racism said anti-migrant, anti-foreigner rhetoric that developed around Brexit had become widespread in UK society, and that the government’s “hostile environment” policy was creating hostility for all racial and ethnic communities.
The connection between political discourse and street violence has become stark in Northern Ireland, where anti-immigrant riots erupted after a knife attack in Belfast was seized upon by far-right agitators online. Masked youths attacked homes, burned cars, and targeted residents “just because they’re Black,” with a pastor describing it as a “race based pogrom”. Justice Minister Naomi Long said “bad faith actors” who previously struggled to find the province on a map had sought to weaponise fear and anger to target people based on skin colour, warning against demonising whole groups for the behaviour of a few. Amnesty International said the violence was being fuelled by racist hatred “stoked by disinformation on social media and amplified by politicians who irresponsibly conflate immigration with crime and social issues”.
UN experts have repeatedly warned that failure to acknowledge historical links to modern racism emboldens extremist ideologies, with the resurgence of groups described as “shockingly akin to the dark days of the 1940s”. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed that nationalist populism and supremacist ideologies are not a mere exercise of freedom of expression but pose a threat to social cohesion, urging politicians and leaders to openly condemn messages that disseminate ideas based on racial superiority. As campaigns across the continent continue to feature alarmist narratives about migration, civil society groups argue that addressing these challenges requires honest debate about history, stronger enforcement of anti-racism laws, and political leadership that resists divisiveness rather than exploiting it.
