Fascism

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In fact, representatives of neofascist or far-right parties currently holding as many as 20 seats have scored their most surprising successes in elections for the European Parliament -- even though they abhor the concept of a European Union.

But viewing current events through the prism of the Nazi and fascist past can be distorting. With the exception of Italy, neofascists wield no real power in any national parliament, and the Italian case is too much of a political quirk to be considered a harbinger of Europe's future. "The situation today is not at all the same as it was in 1933," says Karsten Voigt, a spokesman for Germany's opposition Social Democrats. "The problem in 1933 was not that there were too many Nazis but that there were too few democrats. Today we have enough democrats." So do France, Britain, Spain and Italy. That, ultimately, is the gift the soldiers brought to Europe on D-day.

With reporting by Michael Brunton/London, Bruce Crumley/Paris, John Moody/Rome and Nomi Morris/Berlin

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