The aim of the CBEES State of the Region Report 2021 is to map out the many varieties of far-right parties and movements in contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, a region typically described as marked by Euroscepticism, illiberalism and increasing tendencies towards authoritarianism. The report gathers in-depth analyses of the development and crucial features of far-right actors in 13 countries. It draws out certain common themes, but also highlights the diversity of far-right politics in the region.

In the individual contributions of this report, the participating researchers depict a nuanced picture of the far right and the relative importance of, for example, the legacy of nationalist dissident movements, exile groups and organizations, and far-right actors’ diferent notions of empires, civilizations, spheres of identities, powers, and oppositions such as east and west, and north and south; all play a role both in relation to the current political agenda and to the memory or narratives of the past.

In sum, we are witnessing a general turn away from the pro-European liberalism towards a more isolationist or protectionist – not to say xenophobic – nationalism.

The report is the second in a series of annual reports from CBEES (Centre for Baltic and East European Studies), reporting and refecting on the social and political developments in the Baltic Sea Region and Central and Eastern Europe, each year from a new and topical perspective. The overall purpose with this initiative is to ofer a publication that will be of great interest to fellow researchers, policy makers, stakeholders, and the general public.