The strong performance of the far-right in Finland’s elections has shown the strength of anti-immigrant parties across the continent, just over a month before the European parliament elections.The Finns Party more than doubled its seats under the leadership of hardline nationalist Jussi Halla-aho in Sunday’s vote.It took 17.5 percent of the ballots, just behind the Social Democrats who came in first with 17.7 percent — which could make it tricky for Social Democrat leader Antti Rinne to form a government that excludes the far-right. The far-right has made new gains recently in EU countries ranging from Estonia to Spain, on top of its strong bases in nations like France, Germany and Italy.European voters are due to choose a new parliament in elections from May 23-26, and gains for the far right would be a new blow for the bloc’s established leaders after the crisis caused by Brexit.– ‘Motor force’ –Identity and immigration are the “motor force” behind the populist vote in Europe, French researcher Jean-Yves Camus, a specialist on the far-right, told AFP.“There is a real crisis of representative democracy which is being challenged through direct democracy,” he told AFP.He said Hallo-aho had driven his party in a much more radical direction than his predecessor Timo Soini, who conformed more to the model of a European national conservative. “There was radicalisation within the Finns Party,” Camus said.Goran Djupsund, a professor of political science at the Abo Akademi University in Finland, noted that no party in the election had passed the 20 percent mark: a sign of growing fragmentation in politics.The party of outgoing prime minister Juha Sipila was relegated to fourth place.