Chapter 78: Anti-Vaccine Parties

306     created in 2019  Mihaela Mihai and Camil Ungureanu, “The Alliance for the Union of Romanians Represents a New Form of Far-Right Environmentalism,” European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) blog, London School of Economics, November 21, 2024, blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2024/11/21/the-alliance-for-the-union-of-romanians-represents-a-new-form-of-far-right-environmentalism/.
 
306     “the anti-vaccine party” Alina Mungiu-Pippidi quoted in Giulia Carbonaro, “Romania Is Facing crucial Elections in 2024—Will the Country Put the Rising Far-Right in Power,” Euronews, November 28, 2023, www.euronews.com/2023/11/28/romania-is-facing-crucial-elections-in-2024-will-the-country-put-the-rising-far-right-in-p.
 
306     received a boost . . . in December 2020  Carbonaro, “Romania Is Facing crucial Elections in 2024—Will the Country Put the Rising Far-Right in Power,” www.euronews.com/2023/11/28/romania-is-facing-crucial-elections-in-2024-will-the-country-put-the-rising-far-right-in-p; and “Romania—2025 Presidential Election,” Politico, Poll of Polls, accessed March 19, 2025, www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/romania.
 
306     “Vaccination should not be a condition . . .”  George Simion, Twitter, December 29, 2020, 9:07 a.m., x.com/georgesimion/status/1343921531894837248, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/jZcUo.
 
306     founded in 2019 Pauline Rouquette, “Greek Solution: Greece’s Far Right Gathers Steam Before EU Elections,” France 24, April 10, 2024, www.france24.com/en/europe/20240410-greek-solution-greece-far-right-gathers-steam-before-eu-elections.
 
306     “gained a following over its opposition . . .”  Derek Gatopoulos, “Far-Right Parties Make Comeback in Greek Election as Conservatives Sweep Back to Power,” Associated Press (AP) News, June 25, 2023, apnews.com/article/greece-elections-far-right-kasidiaris-politics-3df35659fb5834777e3826650d97b19f.
 
306     the highest coronavirus death rates . . .  Alexandar Detev, “Why Bulgaria Struggles to Fight COVID,” Deutsche Welle (DW), January 21, 2022, www.dw.com/en/bulgaria-fighting-a-losing-battle-against-covid/a-60486611.
 
306     campaigned against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccines . . .  Detev, “Why Bulgaria Struggles to Fight COVID,” www.dw.com/en/bulgaria-fighting-a-losing-battle-against-covid/a-60486611; and Polina Paunova and Tony Wesolowsky, “It Denies COVID and Wants Out of NATO and the EU: Now Bulgaria’s Pro-Kremlin, Far-Right Revival Party Is in Parliament,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, November 22, 2021, www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-revival-party-parliament-eu/31572826.html.
 
306     repeatedly . . . “experimental liquid” Kostadin Kostadinov quoted in Detev, “Why Bulgaria Struggles to Fight COVID,” www.dw.com/en/bulgaria-fighting-a-losing-battle-against-covid/a-60486611.
 
306     4.9 percent of the vote . . . thirteen seats in the National Assembly . . .  International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) Election Guide, “Bulgarian National Assembly,” November 14, 2021, last updated August 16, 2023, accessed March 20, 2025,www.electionguide.org/elections/id/3960.
 
306       upping their 1 percent total . . . entering . . . for the first time  and Paunova and Wesolowsky, “It Denies COVID and Wants Out of NATO and the EU: Now Bulgaria’s Pro-Kremlin, Far-Right Revival Party Is in Parliament,” www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-revival-party-parliament-eu/31572826.html.
 
306     “restrictions.” “the vaccination certificate” . . . “the destruction of . . .”  André Ventura, Twitter, August 5, 2021, 5:31 p.m., x.com/AndreCVentura/status/1423396206370230274, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/DSIY0. Poster translated via Google Translate.
 
306     “Our freedom has no price . . .”  Ventura, Twitter, August 5, 2021, x.com/AndreCVentura/status/1423396206370230274, archived at archive.ph/wip/DSIY0.
 
306–307 “dissatisfaction” . . . “increasing the odds of voting for Chega” José Santana-Pereira and Elisabetta De Giorgi, “‘Your Luck Is Our Luck’: Covid-19, the Radical Right and Low Polarisation in the 2022 Portuguese Elections,” South European Society and Politics 27, n0. 2 (2022), www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13608746.2023.2191417, 321.
 
307      supported vaccines and . . . vaccine passports “The Accounts That Anti-Vaxxers Passed On to Kast, After the Somersault with the Mobility Pass and Daza’s Incorporation,” El Mostrador, November 30, 2021, www.elmostrador.cl/noticias/pais/2021/11/30/las-cuentas-que-pasaron-los-antivacunas-a-kast-tras-voltereta-con-el-pase-de-movilidad-e-incorporacion-de-daza, via Google Translate.
 
307      “to lock up all Chileans again . . .” José Antonio Kast Rist, Twitter, October 4, 2021, 8:00 a.m., x.com/joseantoniokast/status/1444995747338985472, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/XjCgo, via Google Translate.
 
307      corruption scandal . . . causing the party to hemorrhage support  Michele Barbero, “For Europe’s Far-Right, Vaccine Skepticism Is a Trap,” Foreign Policy, December 7, 2021, foreignpolicy.com/2021/12/07/europe-right-vaccine-skepticism-covid-19.
 
307      “vaccine skepticism” . . . “new credibility with its base.” It rose in the polls  Barbero, “For Europe’s Far-Right, Vaccine Skepticism Is a Trap,” foreignpolicy.com/2021/12/07/europe-right-vaccine-skepticism-covid-19.
 
307      the first country in Europe to mandate . . . in November 2021 Philip Oltermann, “Austria Plans Compulsory Covid Vaccination for All,” The Guardian, November 19, 2021, www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/19/austria-plans-compulsory-covid-vaccination-for-all.
 
307      “nothing short of a gigantic attack. . .”  “Speech by Herbert Kickl Against Compulsory Vaccination on 20 January, 2022,” Visegrád Post, January 26, 2022, accessed via Wayback Machine, January 26, 2022 capture, web.archive.org/web/20220126211647/https://visegradpost.com/en/2022/01/26/speech-by-herbert-kickl-against-compulsory-vaccination-on-20-january-2022/.
 
307      “mainly” . . . “patients with a non-Western background”  Geert Wilders, Twitter, October 11, 2020, 5:31 a.m., x.com/geertwilderspvv/status/1315223383445966848, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/wip/CeBPB, via Google Translate.
 
307      opposition to mandatory quarantines for close contacts  Mike Corder, Associated Press, “Dutch Lawmakers Criticize Government’s Coronavirus Measures,” Washington Post, August 12, 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dutch-lawmakers-criticize-governments-coronavirus-measures/2020/08/12/68308d66-dca5-11ea-b4f1-25b762cdbbf4_story.html.
 
307      mandatory vaccinations, and vaccine passports  “Dutch to Introduce ‘Corona’ Pass Despite Strong Opposition,” Reuters, September 17, 2021, www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/dutch-introduce-corona-pass-despite-strong-opposition-2021-09-17.
 
307        the 2021 parliamentary elections  See the results at IFES Election Guide, “Dutch Second Chamber 2021 General,” March 17, 2021, last updated June 21, 2024, accessed March 25, 2025, www.electionguide.org/elections/id/3629.
 
307      contributed to his defeat Abel Brodeur et al., “How COVID-19 :ed to Donald Trump’s Defeat,” The Conversation, December 7, 2020, theconversation.com/how-covid-19-led-to-donald-trumps-defeat-150110; Seth Masket, “How Much Did COVID-19 Affect the 2020 Election?,” FiveThirtyEight, January 27, 2021, fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-much-did-covid-19-affect-the-2020-election; and Josh Dawsey, “Poor Handling of Virus Cost Trump His Reelection, Campaign Autopsy Finds,” Washington Post, February 1, 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poor-handling-of-virus-cost-trump-his-reelection-campaign-autopsy-finds/2021/02/01/92d60002-650b-11eb-886d-5264d4ceb46d_story.html.
 
307–308 “a bit of a cold”  Jair Bolsonaro quoted in Tom Phillips, “Bolsonaro Says He ‘Wouldn’t Feel Anything’ if Infected with Covid-19 and Attacks State Lockdowns,” The Guardian, March 24, 2020, www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/bolsonaro-brazil-wouldnt-feel-anything-covid-19-attack-state-lockdowns.
 
307–308 urging Brazilians to disobey. . . Terrence McCoy, “Brazil’s Bolsonaro Tests Positive for Coronavirus,” Washington Post, July 7, 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/coronavirus-brazil-bolsonaro-tests-positive/2020/07/07/5fa71548-c049-11ea-b4f6-cb39cd8940fb_story.html.
 
307–308 claiming vaccinated Britons . . . AIDS Tom Phillips, “Police Call for Bolsonaro to Be Charged for Spreading Covid Misinformation,” The Guardian, August 18, 2022, www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/18/jair-bolsonaro-covid-misinformation-charge-brazil-police.
 
307–308 contributed to his defeat  Andy Robinson, “Javier Milei Owes It All to Covid,” La Vanguardia, January 5, 2024, www.lavanguardia.com/internacional/20240105/9488873/javier-milei-covid.html, via Google Translate; and Aahil Rajpari, “The Brazilian Election: Recap and Potential Consequences,” UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog, November 28, 2022, sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2022/11/28/the-brazilian-election-recap-and-potential-consequences.
 
308     about half of unvaccinated voters  Barbero, “For Europe’s Far-Right, Vaccine Skepticism Is a Trap,” web.archive.org/web/20220324093840/https:/foreignpolicy.com/2021/12/07/europe-right-vaccine-skepticism-covid-19.
 
308     facing “discrimination”  Loveday Morris, “Germany’s Far Right Stokes New Grievances for Voters: Mask Rules and Vaccine Mandates,” Washington Post, September 24, 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/germany-election-far-right/2021/09/24/52d7a2a6-1b15-11ec-bea8-308ea134594f_story.html.
 
308       losing seats in the 2021 elections  Rafaela Dancygier, “Germany’s Far-Right Party Lost Seats in Last Week’s Election: Here’s Why,” Washington Post, October 5, 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/05/germanys-far-right-party-lost-seats-last-weeks-election-heres-why.
 
308     “Western German regions hit especially hard . . .”  Michael Bayerlein and Anne Metten, “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Support for the German AfD: Jumping the Populist Ship or Staying the Course?” Polit Vierteljahresschr 63, no. 3 (2022), link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11615-022-00398-3, 405.
 
308     a less salient issue . . . even more if not for the pandemic  Michael A. Hansen and Jonathan Olsen, “The Alternative for Germany (AfD) as Populist Issue Entrepreneur: Explaining the Party and its Voters in the 2021 German Federal Election,” German Politics 33, no. 4 (2022), www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644008.2022.2087871, 657–658.
 
308     likely benefitted . . . normalized concepts . . .  Alasdair Fotheringham, “In the Pandemic, Are Europeans More Attracted to the Far Right?” Al Jazeera, February 3, 2021, www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/2/3/far-right-europe-pandemic.
 
308     “Border control has even been mentioned . . .”  Jean-Yves Camus quoted in Fotheringham, “In the Pandemic, Are Europeans More Attracted to the Far Right?” www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/2/3/far-right-europe-pandemic.