Category EUROPEAN POLITICS

The last few years have been a tough time to be a British europhile. Out of the EU, out of the single market, no freedom of movement and no prospect of things getting better any time soon.  This week the…

The French Socialist Party held the second round of its leadership race on Thursday (19 January). The two candidates, Olivier Faure and Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, are both claiming victory amidst mutual accusations of irregularities in the voting process. On Friday morning,…

Bulgaria is facing new general election in the spring, the country’s fifth in two years, after the Socialists on Friday (20 January) gave up on plans to form a working government. The Socialists, who had the third and final chance…

Republican Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the US House of Representatives early on Saturday (7 January), after making extensive concessions to a group of right-wing hardliners that raised questions about the party’s ability to govern. The 57-year-old Californian suffered…

Right-wing party Les Républicains confirmed it will back the much-delayed pension reform promised by President Emmanuel Macron, meaning that after months of uncertainty, it could now be passed with a parliamentary majority. The pension reform bill, among Macron’s key campaign…

The Czech Republic is saying goodbye to the decade-long era of controversial Czech President Miloš Zeman, known for his pro-Russian and pro-Chinese positions, and is hoping for a new democratic president. Before the end of his mandate and start of…

Bosnian Serbs will hold a controversial parade on Monday to mark the “statehood day” of their entity, Republika Srpska (RS), although Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Constitutional Court had long ruled the holiday unconstitutional. At the end of a brutal 1992-95 war amongst Serbs,…

Brazilian security forces wrested back control of Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court Sunday (8 January) after a flood of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the seat of power, unleashing chaos on the capital. In scenes reminiscent of…

President Rumen Radev is expected to soon hand over the third and final government mandate, meaning that if parties will again fail to form a coalition, Bulgarians will be called back to the polls for the fifth time in  five…

Janez Zemljarič, a politician who held several top positions during the communist era, including head of the secret police, has been buried with military honours, sparking controversy and reigniting old political divisions. Zemljarič served as the first minister of Slovenia’s…

Ireland’s hospitals are struggling to cope with the ‘perfect storm’ of COVID-19, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) patients, resulting in widespread overcrowding and lengthy delays. Hospital waiting times have been a growing area of concern in recent weeks, reaching…

France will be sending tanks to Ukraine in an effort to expand its military aid, French President Emmanuel Macron told his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Wednesday. “The president wished to amplify this military aid,” announced the presidency after a…