In politics, cordon sanitaire (french for "sanitary cordon") is the refusal of one political party to cooperate with certain other political parties. Often this is because the targeted party has strategies or an ideology perceived as unacceptable or radical and extremist.
Origins of term
Beginning in the late 1980s, the term was introduced into the discourse on parliamentary politics by Belgian commentators. At that time, the far-right Flemish nationalist Vlaams Blok party began to make significant electoral gains. Because the Vlaams Blok was considered a racist group by many, the other Belgian political parties committed to exclude the party from any coalition government, even if that forced the formation of grand coalition governments between ideological rivals. Commentators dubbed this agreement Belgium's cordon sanitaire. In 2004, its successor party, Vlaams Belang changed its party platform to allow it to comply with the law. While no formal new agreement has been signed against it, it nevertheless remains uncertain whether any mainstream Belgian party will enter into coalition talks with Vlaams Belang in the near future. Several members of various Flemish parties have questioned the viability of the cordon sanitaire.
With the electoral success of nationalist and extremist parties on the left and right in recent European history, the term has been transferred to agreements similar to the one struck in Belgium.
Examples
Austria
After Jörg Haider became leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) in 1986, all other parties refused to cooperate with them until 2000 when the First Schüssel government was formed. This (FPÖ) government would last from 2000 to 2005, and a second (FPÖ) government would last from 2017 to 2019.
Canada
In Canada, resistance to the formation of coalition governments among left-of-center parties has been attributed to an unwillingness to be seen as collaborating with the Bloc Québécois, which advocates for Quebecois independence. However, during the 2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute, an agreement was made where the Bloc Québécois would provide supply and confidence to a potential coalition government formed by the Liberal Party and New Democratic Party. That government was never formed as the Conservative Party minority government ultimately retained the confidence of the House.
European Union
All of the political groups declared cordon sanitaire on far-right Identity and Democracy group in the Ninth European Parliament.
Some (though not all) of the Non-Inscrits members of the European Parliament are unaffiliated because they are considered to lie too far on the right of the political spectrum to be acceptable to any of the European Parliament party groups.
Estonia and Latvia
In Estonia and Latvia, "Russian-speaking" parties (LKS, For Stability! and Harmony in Latvia, and the Constitution Party and Centre Party in Estonia) had been excluded from participation in ruling coalitions at a national level until leadership change. Differing interpretations of the Soviet occupation between 1940 and 1990 and attitudes towards Vladimir Putin's current United Russia government in the Russian Federation are often cited as reasons to conclude coalition talks with other parties, even if said parties are perceived to be on the radical right.
The cordon is not absolute; the Centre Party of Estonia has briefly participated in three coalition governments in 1995, 2002–2003 and 2005–2007. The cordon was renewed in 2007, due to Edgar Savisaar's attitudes toward the Bronze Night. In 2016 Jüri Ratas of Centre became Prime Minister of Estonia, effectively ending any cordon around the party. In Latvia the cordon against the Harmony remains up to this day.
In Estonia, the cordon also was set up against the Conservative People's Party of Estonia between 2015 and 2019.