Portugal: No Longer an Exception to Europe’s Far-right Rise By Inés M. Pousadela Copyright © 2025 IPS-Inter Press Service.

https://www.ipsnews.net/2025/06/portugal-no-longer-exception-europes-far-right-rise/ MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Jun 5 2025 (IPS) - For decades, Portugal stood as a beacon of democratic stability in an increasingly unsettled Europe. While neighbours grappled with political fragmentation and the rise of far-right movements, Portugal maintained its two-party system, a testament to the enduring legacy of the 1974 Carnation Revolution that peacefully transitioned the country from dictatorship to democracy. It was long believed that Portugal’s extensive pre-revolution experience of repressive right-wing rule had effectively inoculated it against far-right politics, but that assumption is now demonstrable outdated. An era of exceptionalism ended on 18 May, when the far-right Chega party secured 22.8 per cent of the vote and 60 parliamentary seats, becoming the country’s main opposition force. Copyright © 2025 IPS-Inter Press Service.