Populist parties in Europe, from propaganda to legal reforms: whether freedoms of expression, association and religion are under threat?

Abstract

The effect of the recent populist legislative tendencies results in sharpening new and old tensions between national and international legal orders and, in the European Union scenario, in particular, the most alarming outcome could be a potential and systematic breach of the European Convention on Human Rights and the liberal democratic values expressed in it. Regarding the argument of the enforcement, nevertheless, besides the importance of the international recommendations and soft law instruments, above all the EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief, it could be crucial the role that the religious leaders should perform towards a more inclusive intrareligious dialogue and within States, pushing and persuading national authorities to take further steps in order to comply with the fundamental scope of “living together”.