Populists, nationalists and other extreme right-wing groups have made their marks on European countries, from forcing out traditional parties and assuming control to pushing traditional parties to take more aggressive stances on issues such as immigration. Their successes have been made possible because of several crises that have undermined the perceived legitimacy of traditional leaders. Those five crises – the 2008 global economic crisis; the refugee crisis; the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union (EU) called Brexit; globalization’s split effects, both positive and negative; and the divergent Cold War perspectives getting internalized in the EU – have triggered anxiety and disruption, which have been relatively easy for populists to exploit. Pushback against the more negative policies of the populists has started to gain ground with citizens who, in several countries, have recently rejected populists’ and other extreme groups’ policies. The strength of that pushback as well as the strength of the populists will be front and center at the Continent-wide elections to the European Parliament scheduled for late in May. Voter turnout will likely determine which perspective is stronger.