Europe’s Populist Parties Keep Gaining Ground, but Cannot Get Into Power

Cordon sanitaire, a measure normally directed at keeping out fringe outliers, is now being used to keep out parties that are gaining majority-level support.

Police block the road access to an AfD campaign meeting during a demostration under the motto "Block Alice Weidel," co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, in Neu-Isenburg near Frankfrurt am Main, western Germany, on Feb. 1, 2025. Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP

Across the European continent, despite gaining considerable proportions of the vote, populist parties are increasingly being frozen out of governing in coalitions by political opponents who regard them as extremist.

Proponents of the tactic known as a “cordon sanitaire” or “firewall” say it’s not an attack on democracy but a defense of it. But one war expert said the tactic will only arouse anger in voters and that “there is no potential for peaceful political change.”