January 17, 2024

A weekly review of news and analysis of elections in Europe, usually posted on Wednesdays and occasionally updated throughout the week.

Poland’s Commission Palace, which serves as Warsaw’s City Hall. Poland holds local elections in April following last year’s general elections, which ousted the conservative Law and Justice. Photo credit: Wikimedia/Adrian Grycuk (CC BY-SA 3.0 pl)

Upcoming Europe Elections

Finland Presidential Election: January 28, 2024

High North News (January 16, 2024): Alexander Stubb Leads Opinion Polls Before Finland’s Jan. 28 Presidential Election

Anne Kauranen, Reuters (January 12, 2024): Finnish presidential frontrunner Stubb seeks a ‘more European’ NATO

Poland Local Elections: April 7, 2024 (following general elections in October 2023)

AP (January 15, 2024): Poland’s crucial local elections will be held in April, newly appointed prime minister says

AP (January 11, 2024): Poland’s president plans to pardon 2 politicians as tens of thousands hold anti-government protest

European Union, European Parliament Elections: June 6-9, 2024

Jakob Hanke Vela, Politico (January 16, 2024): Nicolas Schmit emerges as Socialists’ top pick for election

Raf Caret, AP (January 14, 2024): The far right may surge in upcoming EU elections. A quiet Dutch town explains why

Amy Kazmin, Financial Times (January 12, 2024): Italy’s Meloni faces friendly fire from Salvini ahead of EU elections: Far-right League leader likely to try and claw back votes after being eclipsed by prime minister

Germany State Elections in Saxony and Thuringia: September 1, 2024 and Brandenburg: September 22, 2024 (federal elections due by October 2025)

Katya Hoyer, UnHerd (January 16, 2024): Could Sahra Wagenknecht be in Germany’s next government? The Left-winger’s new party is polling even with Olaf Scholz’s SPD

Cas Mudde, The Guardian (January 16, 2024): Can Europe’s new ‘conservative left’ persuade voters to abandon the far right?

Reuters (January 13, 2024): New German leftist party could take up to 14% of vote, poll shows

Geir Moulson, AP (January 13, 2024): Germany’s Scholz warns of extremists stoking rage as farmers protest and discontent is high

Romania Presidential Election: November/December 2024 (due)

Madalin Necsutu, Balkan Insight (January 15, 2024): Romanian Farmers’ Protest Over Taxes Pose Dilemma for Govt

United Kingdom General Elections: Due by January 2024 (earlier elections likely)

AFP (January 15, 2024): Millions of Overseas Brits Now Eligible to Vote in UK Elections

Anna Gross, Financial Times (January 14, 2024): How new rules could influence the 2024 UK general election

United Kingdom, Northern Ireland Assembly Elections: By May 2027 (earlier elections possible)

Reuters (January 17, 2024): Britain to delay Northern Ireland elections again, hopeful of deal

AFP (January 17, 2024): N.Ireland To Miss Deadline To Break Political Impasse

Past Europe Elections

Serbia Parliamentary Elections: December 17, 2023

Laura Hülsemann, Politico (January 18, 2024): Senior politicians urge Ursula von der Leyen to probe Serbian election

Jovana Krstic, RFE/RL (January 17, 2024): Serbian Opposition Says Democracy At Stake As Protests Over Elections Resume

Dimitar Bechev, Carnegie Europe (January 11, 2024): Serbia’s Authoritarian (Re)turn

Kosovo Partial Local Elections: April 23, 2023

AP (January 17, 2024): Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo hold a petition drive in hopes of ousting 4 ethnic Albanian mayors

Netherlands Parliamentary Elections: November 22, 2023

Mike Corder, AP (January 17, 2024): Immigration issue challenges delicate talks to form new Dutch government

Bart H. Meijer, Reuters (January 16, 2024): Dutch Senate defies prospective government parties over migration law

France Presidential Election: April 10, 2022 (local elections due in Spring 2026 and general election due April 2027)

AFP (January 17, 2024): France’s new culture minister says will run for Paris mayor, just days in the job

Léonie Allard and Marie Jourdain, Atlantic Council (January 13, 2024): Can Macron’s new cabinet of ‘revolutionaries’ remake French politics?

AFP (January 12, 2024): Macron’s reshuffle tilts French cabinet to the right ahead of EU elections

Politico (January 11, 2024): Macron picks EU liberal leader as new foreign minister in cabinet reshuffle: Macron’s choice for foreign affairs, 38-year-old Stéphane Séjourné, is likely to make waves in both Paris and Brussels.

Michel Rose and Elizabeth Pineau, Reuters (January 11, 2024): France’s Macron poaches conservative veteran in coup ahead of EU elections