elections
A clear victory for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) with 28% of the vote, making it one of few European social democratic parties not just to survive, but to grow and consolidate its power base.The extreme right party, Vox, burst into the Spanish parliament with 24 seats, winning more than 10% of the vote.The left-wing party Unidas Podemos (UP) lost almost 1.5 million votes, but was key to the formation of the government led by Pedro Sánchez. The result of the Spanish general election held on 28 April provided a snapshot of the...
read more "Elections in Spain 2019: the progressive majority wins"
read more "Elections in Spain 2019: the progressive majority wins"
The Spanish general election and what it teaches usThe most recent turning points in Spanish politics occurred on 2 December 2018 and 13 February 2019. 2 December saw regional elections in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, where the left had been in power for decades. The social-democratic PSOE party suffered a significant decline, dropping seven percentage points. While the conservative People's Party (PP) also lost around five percentage points, the elections in Andalusia were nevertheless a clear victory for the right. The far-right VOX party came from virtually ...
read more "A bad day for the right"
read more "A bad day for the right"
European Parliament Elections in HungaryThe other day, a German friend of mine said: "Whenever we heard worrying news from Hungary in the first 20 years after the fall of communism, we always thought it was just another little storm over Lake Balaton. We should have taken it more seriously." Long held up as a model of successful transition to democracy and European integration, Hungary is now one of the darkest corners of the continent. How did it come to this? What happened to this charming Central European republic? What are we to make of a country whose famed Lake ...
read more "A Storm over Lake Balaton?"
read more "A Storm over Lake Balaton?"
Analyse und AussichtenThey might be hard to see at first glance, but seismic shifts in Hungary's political landscape marked this year's European Parliament elections. Even before the polls opened, there was no doubt that the Fidesz-KDNP Party Alliance headed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would win these elections hands down. By unscrupulously focusing on the issue of refugees and immigration (which however hardly affects Hungary at all), Orbán again did well with broad swathes of the electorate. Meanwhile, though, the pro-European opposition ...
read more "The 2019 European Parliament Elections in Hungary"
read more "The 2019 European Parliament Elections in Hungary"
Initial situationTo understand the situation of the Czech Left at the end of the second decade of the 21st century, it is necessary to briefly outline the post-communist development of the Czech Republic. In terms of left-wing politics, the situation in Czechoslovakia (from 1 January 1993 onwards, the independent Czech Republic) was somewhat atypical compared to other ex-Soviet bloc countries. Unlike Poland, Hungary or the eastern part of the united Germany, there was no transformation of the Communist Party into a social-democratic party. Social...
read more "European Parliament Elections and the Czech Left"
read more "European Parliament Elections and the Czech Left"
Elections on 28 April 2019Following a short term of office, Social Democrat Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for elections in Spain in the midst of a deeply volatile political period, just one month before the European, regional (except in Catalonia, Galicia, Andalusia and Comunidad Valenciana) and local elections. Next Sunday 28 April, the Spanish Parliament will be re-elected. These will be the 13th general elections in Spain since the transition in 1978. The traditional two-party system that prevailed for over 30 years broke down after the ...
read more "Opportunities and Risks for the Left in Spain"
read more "Opportunities and Risks for the Left in Spain"
Slovenia is one of the European countries in which the political landscape has changed significantly, after the crisis of capitalism in 2008, although with a slight delay. Some “traditional” political parties, which ruled in the past, simply vanished. Thus, as in other parts of Europe, also in Slovenia there are a lot of “unknowns”. So far these turbulences did not reflect that much on the elections to the European parliament (EP), as they did on the elections for the Slovenian National Assembly. On all (3) European elections ...
read more "Slovenia: A lot of unknowns before this year’s European elections"
read more "Slovenia: A lot of unknowns before this year’s European elections"
The European Parliament Elections in the United KingdomAt the time of writing, it is still unclear whether the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will actually participate in the 2019 European Parliament elections. If Prime Minister Theresa May manages to get the European Union Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with Brussels through the House of Commons, Brexit would stop the UK taking part. A second, even less probable, scenario would be a new agreement approved by both the House of Commons and the EU. However, if, as looks likely, the UK is ...
read more "Jeremy Corbyn’s tightrope act"
read more "Jeremy Corbyn’s tightrope act"
The Danish Left at a European crossroadsFacing both national and European elections before the summer, the political situation in Denmark is opening up. An apparent decline of the far right is connected to the Social Democrats who have successfully taken over harsh immigration policies. The EU remains a marginal topic but as Brexit is unfolding, support for the union seems stronger than ever. In this environment, the dominant far left party runs its own European parliament campaign for the first time thereby opening up to new strategies as others seem ...
read more "From Euro-Criticism to Euro-Skepticism"
read more "From Euro-Criticism to Euro-Skepticism"
Saturday March 2, 2019, two hundred thousand people hit the streets of Milan, demonstrating against racism. This was the first mass rally that took place in Italy against the populist government composed by the Northern League and the Five Star Movement, exactly one year after the political elections. More than 1.200 associations from the civil society adhered to the march and gathered under the general motto "People first", a motto clearly in opposition with the one of the government, "Italians first". The center-left wing Democratic Party (PD) did not play any role in ...
read more "Country report: Italy"
read more "Country report: Italy"