Inside Story

Is the right on the rise in Europe?

Inside Story asks if the attacks in Norway point to a growing trend across Europe.

Jens Stoltenberg, the Norwegian prime minister, says his country has woken up to a nightmare.

At least 92 people are known to have been killed in two attacks; seven as a result of a massive explosion near government buildings in Oslo and at least 85 who were shot dead when a man dressed as a police officer opened fire at a youth summer camp for the Labour Party on the nearby island of Utoya.

With the numbers of dead and injured likely to rise, we ask: Does this incident point to a growing trend across Europe – the rise of the extreme right? And how could one man have planned and executed the worst attacks in Norway since World War II?

Inside Story discusses with guests: Tore Bjorgo, a professor at the Norwegian Police University College; Kristian berg Harpviken, the director of the Peace Research Institute; and Robin Simcox from the Henry Jackson Society foreign policy think tank.

This episode of Inside Story aired on Saturday, July 23, 2011.