Viktor Orban, like European populists in general, is neither of the right nor the left. He is a child of both.
Demotix/Mark Kerrison. All rights reserved.
After the parliamentary elections in the former Soviet republic of Moldova on Sunday the pro-European camp can continue to govern with a slim majority. Now it must show the people that taking the European path is worthwhile, some journalists urge. Others warn that pressure from Moscow won’t let up and call for the EU to support Chişinău.
Fewer and fewer people choose the EU as a long-term residence, but Germany is the exception to this rule, according to an OECD finding, most likely due to the effects of the eurozone crisis.EurActiv Germany reports.
Right-wing discourse in Hungarian politics is matched by the government’s regressive handling of gender issues, as structural violence against the socially marginalised interplays with violence against women.
Authoritarianism is never good news for women – as citizens or as the structurally more marginalised gender – and Hungary’s continued shift away from democracy and upholding human rights under the right-wing Fidesz government is mirrored by its regressive backsliding on gender equality. Last week, Hungarian feminist groups spoke out to condemn a public service announcement made by a Hungarian police department that blamed women for ‘inviting’ sexual violence.
The conservative UMP elected former French president Nicolas Sarkozy as its new leader on Saturday. He’s the only one who can stand up to Front National leader Marine Le Pen in the 2017 presidential elections, some commentators believe. Others express doubts and predict that Sarkozy, who has already failed once as president, won’t be able to solve the country’s economic woes.
KIEV, Ukraine –- The Ukraine government has established a department that critics are calling the “Ministry of Truth” — borrowing a term from George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984
Vladimir Putin announced during his visit to Turkey on Monday that he is cancelling the South Stream pipeline project. Some commentators assess this as a defeat for a Russian president who is simply running out of money. Others see the death of the project as a threat to Europe’s energy security.
Police and security guards at Warwick University have been filmed breaking up a student occupation today with tasers and significant force.
Sweden’s centre-left government has collapsed after it failed to gather enough support to pass its budget through the national parliament.
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| Pablo Iglesias with economists Navarro (right) and Torres López (left) |
With the next general election only one year away, Spain’s anti-establishment party Podemos last week unveiled a revamped package of economic proposals written for them by Spanish economists Vicenç Navarro and Juan Torres López (in the picture with Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias), and called, ‘An economic project for the people’. We went through the 68-page document and pulled out the most interesting bits.
Nicolas Sarkozy took a further step on the road to his political comeback over the weekend, as he won back the leadership of France’s centre-right UMP party. The former French President secured 64.5% of votes in an online survey of UMP members, finishing well ahead of former Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire (29.2%) and outsider Hervé Mariton (6.3%).
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