Disputes in Europe stir up Brazilian far right

“The victory of the people shows that the agendas imposed by the system are not satisfying their wishes,” Jair Bolsonaro, himself elected Brazil’s president in 2018 as an anti-establishment candidate, celebrated on social media earlier this month, referring to the advance of far-right parties in the European Parliament elections.

While pro-EU center-right and center-left groups still control most seats in Brussels, supporters of former President Bolsonaro — including his son and allies — celebrated the results as if they were their own victory.

This Sunday, when France holds its legislative elections, this right-wing Brazilian identification with European disputes is expected to intensify. Mr. Bolsonaro has made President Emmanuel Macron a personal enemy, even insulting the French first lady. Mr. Macron was harshly critical of the deforestation in the Amazon that Mr. Bolsonaro’s administration encouraged.

However, amid this engagement of pro-Bolsonaro Brazilians in European politics, international relations professor David Magalhães notes that Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters lack understanding of the diverse agendas within the European far-right.

For example, while Bolsonarists celebrated the success of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, an outfit broadly in favor of the right to abortion, Mr. Bolsonaro’s allies have pushed for stricter abortion laws in Brazil even in cases of rape.

There are few substantive similarities between the French radical right and the Bolsonarist right. “For the RN, the...