Portugal , voting the past two years in first round for president , sees growth of fringe parties . Silvio Berlusconi says the extremists are gaining due to disastrous economic policy . He says preserving the Euro is forcing leaders to cut spending in midst of recession . The euro is doing to Europe in the 2010s what the gold standard did to the United States in the 1930s : magnifying an ordinary downturn into a social catastrophe . In France , Mélenchon are gaining , though neither will win , he says .
Portugal , voting the past two years in first round for president , sees growth of fringe parties . Silvio Berlusconi says the extremists are gaining due to disastrous economic policy . He says preserving the Euro is forcing leaders to cut spending in midst of recession . In France , Mélenchon are gaining , though neither will win , he says .