"This week on Vice, a surge in terrorism that's threatening the unity of Europe." "♪ ♪ [speaking native language]" "We've just sat through the final presidential debate." "The only word that I really understood throughout the whole thing was the word "Nazi."" "And then an inside look at the future of the EU with one of its most influential leaders." "Where do you see the future of politics going and what are your biggest fears?" "[speaking native language]" "♪ ♪" "Go, go, go!" "♪ ♪ [indistinct shouting]" "We are not animals!" "President Trump's immigration policy, including a proposed border wall and what's been called a "Muslim ban,"" "sent shock waves around the world." "We are going to stop the Syrian refugees from entering the United States." "All: [chanting] We want Trump!" "But these issues are not uniquely American." "The European Union is grappling with a similar breed of populist politics with far-right candidates making huge gains across Europe." "Fear of foreigners or doubts about economic management have led to a rise in extremist populist parties." "Great Britain has already decided to leave the EU altogether and the fight over immigration could determine Europe's political course for years to come." "♪ ♪" "♪ ♪ [indistinct chatter over radio] [footsteps]" "♪ ♪ [helicopter blades whirring]" "In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government has put this European Union border country on lockdown." "A 181-mile border fence was built in 2015 to stop the flow of refugees from entering the country from Serbia or Croatia." "National Police chief Károly Papp oversees Hungary's border control operations." "How effective is the police operation down there?" "[speaking Hungarian]" "Hungary's crime rate was actually on the decline prior to the fence being built, but rural farmers in border towns were facing practical issues as the flow of refugees increased." "How have things changed here in the last few years?" "[speaking Hungarian]" "♪ ♪" "[dramatic music]" "In order to justify closing what used to be an open border," "Prime Minister Orbán amplifies the farmer's fear, citing terror threats as the primary reason." "[speaking Hungarian]" "As Europe sees more and more attacks by ISIS affiliated terrorists, populists put the blame on the increased influx of refugees from the Middle East." "As a result, thousands of refugees are now being stopped at the border." "What's it like to police this area?" "[speaking Hungarian]" "After the fence was built, refugee camps started forming on the Serbian side of the border, where migrants wait for their opportunity to sneak into Hungary." "Hi." "[soft dramatic music]" "Hello." "How are you?" "How old are you?" "Your age." "11." "All right." "Where are you from?" "Afghanistan." "[chuckles]" "Nice to meet you." "[indistinct chatter and laughter]" "These children, they're... they're not terrorists, are they?" "[speaking Hungarian]" "That must make you feel something when you see them." "[speaking Hungarian]" "♪ ♪" "These decisions come directly from the Hungarian government." "While many other EU countries followed Germany's lead in welcoming the refugees," "Hungary surged to the right, sealing its borders." "We sat down with Orbán's spokesman to find out why." "Why did Hungary see it as its responsibility to be the bastions of law and order for the European Union, when Angela Merkel had said that refugees..." "Use... use the proper terms because up until they have a legal status everybody should be called a migrant." "As a matter of fact, an illegal migrant." "The European Union is a community of states in which there are rules, and that was our major problem, actually, with the German position." "How can you request, without our consent, that you don't follow the rules?" "Do you think that refugees have a right to come to Europe?" "Nowhere in international law is it suggested that you have the right of freedom without authorization." "You're not allowed to be naive on that." "Quite a number of the perpetrators of the Paris attacks and the bombing at the Brussels airport, they're coming through Hungary using basically the illegal flow of migrants to the European Union." "That's a serious breach of security." "There are many who, under the camouflage of a religion, extremists would like to wipe out a civilization." "As Mr. Schuman put it, one of the founding fathers of the European Union," ""Europe will be or should be Christian, or will not be."" "If you want to get rid of the core values, then you are getting rid of the original sense of that community." "[percussive music]" "Across the EU, far-right candidates are using the immigration debate to push a nationalist agenda that's threatening the very existence of the EU itself." "The past few years have shown the biggest increase in votes for nationalist and populist parties in Europe since World War II." "Following Trump's victory in the U.S., the world's eyes turned to the next election with a far-right candidate:" "Austria, where Independent Alexander Van Der Bellen was fending off Norbert Hofer of Austria's Freedom Party." "Suddenly, the left-leaning country was on the brink of electing a far-right president for the first time in decades." "[speaking native language]" "Norbert Hofer, a gun loving, anti Islam populist representing the Freedom Party, founded by Ex-Nazis." "Among the founding members of the Freedom Party was high-ranking SS general Anton Reinthaller who founded the party to strengthen nationalist interests in post World War II Austria." "We traveled to Austria as one of Europe's most polarizing elections reached its climax." "[patriotic music]" "♪ ♪" "We're in Vienna, where one of the most divisive elections in Austria's recent history is about to come to an end." "Whether the people here decide to go left or right will also decide what might happen to the future of the European Union." "♪ ♪" "How much is Islamophobia playing in this election?" "[speaking native language]" "♪ ♪" "Lena took me to a campaign appearance by Hofer's opponent Alexander Van Der Bellen." "♪ ♪" "Alexander Van Der Bellen!" "[cheers and applause] [speaking native language]" "[cheers and applause]" "♪ ♪ [dramatic music] [speaking native language]" "Across town, Hofer was also focused on immigration, but took a hard-line approach to the crisis." "[speaking native language]" "[applause]" "♪ ♪" "With the candidates neck-and-neck, both sides were out in full force before the final presidential debate." "Crowd: [chanting] Hofer!" "[chanting in native language]" "It's just before the final presidential debate and supporters of the two candidates are here in a face-off." "What this says about what's going to happen inside we'll see." "♪ ♪ [camera shutters clicking, indistinct chatter]" "Mr. Hofer, how will it feel to become Europe's first far-right leader since the war?" "Umm, first of all, I'm not the leader, and second I'm not far-right." "So why do people describe you as that?" "They don't know me." "Not yet." "[chuckles]" "As is tradition in Austria's presidential elections, the press and both candidates' teams gather to watch the final debate backstage while eating wieners and drinking beer." "But what started as a strange Austrian barbecue gave way to something that was bizarre even by U.S. standards." "[speaking native language]" "[speaking native language] [speaking native language] [speaking native language]" "[speaking native language]" "[all speaking at once] [both speaking native language]" "[soft dramatic music]" "We've just sat through the final presidential debate before the elections." "The only word that I really understood throughout the whole thing was the word "Nazi."" "We're now sitting in the spin room afterwards where the two candidates are here." "Hofer, behind me, is sitting around with his team, smoking cigarettes, drinking glasses of wine." "I've never seen anything really like this." "Some people have described you as an anti-establishment figure." "Is that accurate?" "[sighs] [speaking native language]" "What happens in the end of this... this campaign?" "The people, they will, uh, vote." "[dramatic music] [speaking native language]" "[indistinct chatter on TV] [indistinct chatter] [crowd booing softly]" "[speaking native language]" "[cheers and applause]" "♪ ♪ [cheers and applause]" "[cheers and applause]" "[cheers and applause]" "Wow." "I mean, people are crying here." "It's clear that it means so much to people." "Does this feel like a different Austria now?" "No, because I know that there's still, like, nearly 50% who voted for Hofer, so..." "No." "Actually, you have... you still have to consider, actually there is 50% super racist people in Austria." "[laughs] While Hofer lost in Austria, the fierce political divide has spread across Europe." "In France, a formerly fringe candidate," "Marine Le Pen, came in second place on an anti-immigration platform that could have seen France leave the EU." "[speaking French]" "But the most important election will be in Germany, the unofficial leader of the EU, which took in more refugees than any other European country." "As a result, the once peripheral far-right populist AfD party emerged in direct opposition to Chancellor Angela Merkel." "[speaking German]" "[cheers and applause]" "Since World War II, being ultra-right-wing has been taboo in Germany, yet the AfD is gaining power by exploiting the sharp increase in conflicts between refugees and locals." "In 2016, the German Ministry of Interior reported more than 3 1/2 thousand attacks on refugees and shelters throughout the country." "[indistinct shouting]" "The rural town of Bautzen, is capturing headlines with particularly violent clashes." "Onlookers celebrated as a fire ripped through a former hotel that was being converted into a shelter for refugees." "[soft dramatic music]" "♪ ♪ [speaking German]" "Sebastian Berg is well connected with the local right wing community." "We joined him and his local AfD representative on a tour of the embattled town." "[speaking German]" "While the right wing claims that locals need to protect themselves from refugees, the town's largest refugee center had to build its own fence to protect the refugees from angry locals." "What's the problem with a place like this?" "[speaking German]" "[speaking German]" "[dramatic music]" "We went to meet some of the refugees that the locals were living in fear of." "[indistinct chatter]" "♪ ♪" "While the majority of migrants we saw were families, much of the fear is of single young men." "Firas has mastered the language, but is still facing backlash as he tries to integrate into society." "[speaking German]" "Hello, how are you?" " How are you?" " Nice to meet you." " Yeah." " I'm Ben." "This young family fled the resulting chaos of the U.S. war in Iraq." "Why are you here?" "[speaking native language]" "[emotionally]" "[speaking native language]" " Mama." " [speaking native language] [indistinct chatter]" "With over a million refugees settled in Germany since 2015, and anti-immigrant sentiment on the rise, the AfD and their leader," "Frauke Petry, are using the issue in their bid to unseat Chancellor Angela Merkel." "Do you think Angela Merkel has improved Germany" " since her time in power?" " No, I don't think she has." "Because she opened the border for illegal migration, to more than a million people in 2015." "Many of them cannot read, have not finished school." "Many of them will be completely dependent for the rest of their lives on social benefits, and if government tells us, as Merkel did in Autumn 2015, that we do not have the control about our borders," "we don't have the control about who lives in German, that is basically the complete failing of a state." "Why was immigration a central policy for Trump and for BREXIT and for the AfD here in Germany?" "Immigration was not a central topic when we started..." "But it's become one for you, personally." "It's become more important because situation changed dramatically." "Why do you think there's an appetite for anti-establishment politics in Germany now?" "We have many statistics seen over the last couple of years of people not trusting politicians anymore." "♪ ♪" "What did politics do over the last couple of decades to make people feel excluded?" "I think many citizens are fed up with politicians not talking to them, but talking about them and not taking them seriously, and that is something that many people in Europe do not like." "So, yes, I think it gains momentum, and I hope it will gain even more." "[indistinct shouting]" "♪ ♪" ""Vice" has been following the rise of the far-right in Europe for many years." "We watched and reported as nationalism exploded in response to the migrant crisis currently facing Europe." "[speaking native language]" "You wanna keep the Greek race clean." "Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was in many ways modern Europe's original populist." "He gained massive support from Italian media outlets, many of which he owned, and cultivated a large political base by clamping down on immigration and embracing isolationism." "[speaking Italian]" "I met him at his home in Italy to talk about what the future holds for European politics." "♪ ♪ [speaking Italian]" "[speaking Italian] [both speaking Italian]" "Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is one of the most outspoken critics of allowing immigrants from Syria and other war-torn countries into Europe." "The former leader of Italy was the longest sitting prime minster in modern Italian history, and though his political career was marred with controversy, fraud, and scandal... [speaking Italian]" "He was also one of the original far-right candidates, using fear of immigration to great success, which set the mold for other populous candidates in Europe." "So you look at what happened in Austria recently, a far-right party came second, but nearly came first, and now you have the rise of the far-right in Germany." "Should Europe be worried about this sort of rise of the far-right" " in Austria and Germany?" " [speaking Italian]" "Now what we've seen this season is that this anger is often rooted in the immigration issue, and it's not just Hungary, Austria, and Germany..." "Oh, shit." "[indistinct shouting]" "But also in France where opposition has surged against the migrant population, and here in Berlusconi's home country of Italy, hundreds of thousands of refugees cross the Mediterranean to begin their long journey north into the EU." "You have millions of people coming from Syria, from North Africa, from Afghanistan." "Italy is on the frontlines." "How much is it affecting Italian politics?" "But even larger, how much is this affecting politics in Europe?" "[speaking Italian]" "Now what he means when he references the Marshall Plan is approximately the $130 billion aid project, which rebuilt war-devastated regions of Western Europe in the aftermath of World War II." "Now the idea is that the only way to stop immigration is to actually stop the issues that are causing it at their source." "But while he calls for a unified plan, other European politicians are running campaigns for a more divided Europe." "I interviewed Marine Le Pen in 2012 as she first began to declare her anti-immigration isolationist populist platform." "[speaking French]" "Le Pen has since made a huge leap as this formerly French candidate went on to come in second place in the French elections, and her party is not backing down." "[speaking French]" "Europe, America, maybe even the world has a history of going left and then going right, and then going left and then going right." "Right now we seem to be taking a step to the right." "Why do you think that is?" "[speaking Italian]" "Where do you see the future of politics going in the EU and what do you worry most about?" "What are your biggest fears?" "[speaking Italian]" "[indistinct shouting]" "♪ ♪" "[indistinct shouting]"