Höcke, Le Pen and Trump on the cover of Spiegel: 'How fascism begins'

The faces of Bjoern Hoecke , Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump , and the title "How Fascism Begins. The Secret Hitlers'. The latest cover of the weekly Spiegel is causing discussion in Germany. In the run-up to the local government elections in the eastern Länder, where Alternative für Deutschland is expected to make a strong showing in September, it offers an analysis of the threat of a resurgence of fascism. And the article also mentions the case of Giorgia Meloni in Italy, immortalised in turn on the inside pages between photos of Trump, Putin and Orban.

'The return of fascism is the atavistic fear of modern democratic society. But what long sounded like something hysterical and unimaginable, seems in the meantime to have become serious and real,' reads the magazine, which then proceeds to a long list of examples before analysing the American situation in particular. "Wladimir Putin's imperialist ambitions. The nationalist government of Nerendra Modi . Giorgia Meloni's victory in Italy. Marine le Pen's normalisation strategy in France. The victory of Javier Milei in Argentina. The autocratic dominance of Viktor Orban in Hungary. The comeback of FPOE in Austria or Geert Wilders in the Netherlands. Afd in the east of Germany. The autocratic dominance of Nayb Bukele in El Salvador, which went mostly under the radar but was incredibly determined, where parliament was forced by force of arms into decisions. The risk of a re-election of Donald Trump'.

"The question of whether we risk the return of fascism is now being seriously debated. In politics, in the media, among citizens, in think tanks, among political scientists and philosophers - he continues - Is history repeating itself? Is there a new fascism? Do historical analogies help? What went wrong? And could it happen that democracy helps the reconstruction of a monster that is its greatest terror?".