October 30, 2024
A weekly review of news and analysis of elections in Europe, usually posted on Wednesdays and occasionally updated throughout the week.
The Calea Victoriei, a major street in Bucharest, Romania. Photo credit: Wikimedia/Mihai Petre (CC BY-SA 3.0 RO)
Upcoming Europe Elections
Romania Presidential Election: November 24, 2024 and Legislative Elections: December 1, 2024
Romania holds presidential and legislative elections later this year.
Una Hajdari at Politico notes: “The electoral outcome may keep Romania on its mostly pro-European, centrist path — or tip it toward more nativist policies that would sound alarm bells in Brussels because of the country’s strategic proximity to Ukraine and its role as a key southeast European economy.”
Una Hajdari, Politico (October 30, 2024): Romania’s election extravaganza awakens ghosts of fascist past
Iceland Snap Parliamentary Elections: November 30, 2024
Iceland is holding snap parliamentary elections on November 30, 2024 following the collapse of the coalition government of the conservative Independence Party, center-right Progressive Party, and the Left-Green Movement.
Andie Sophia Fontaine, Iceland Review (October 28, 2024): New Poll: Parliament May Go from Seven Parties to Five
Kosovo Parliamentary Elections: February 9, 2025
Kosovo is holding parliamentary elections on February 9, 2024. In the last elections, in 2021, Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s left-wing populist Vetëvendosje party won a landslide.
Nen Si, Euronews (October 30, 2024): Serbian Euro-Atlantic Council: Russia intends to destabilize Kosovo before the elections
Ardita Zeqiri and Antigonë Isufi, Prishtina Insight (October 29, 2024): Kosovo Government Announces Public Sector Pay Hike Ahead of 2025 Election
Albania Parliamentary Elections: By June 2025
Albania is due to hold parliamentary elections in June 2025 amid tension and protests by the opposition center-right Democratic Party demanding that the Socialist Party government of Edi Rama step down and appoint a caretaker government ahead of the vote. Democratic Party leaders have accused Rama of manipulating elections and corruption. Protesters are also demanding the release of Democratic Party figures who have been arrested, including former Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Albania is currently in membership negotiations with the European Union.
Llazar Semini, AP (October 29, 2024): Albania’s opposition blocks roads in a protest to demand a caretaker Cabinet
Germany Federal Parliamentary Elections: September 28, 2025
Germany’s 2025 federal elections come on the heels of three state elections in the east that delivered blows to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s left-leaning coalition government. The far-right AfD won in Thuringia and came in a close second in Saxony. While Scholz’s SPD pulled off a surprise win in Brandenburg, AfD made large gains there as well. In addition, a new pro-Putin, anti-establishment left-wing populist party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), won large percentages of the vote.
Notably, Die Linke (The Left), which formed from remnants of the Communist Party in the east, saw a major collapse in the recent state elections.
The governing coalition is currently hanging on by a thread and snap elections could happen.
Kamil Kowalcze and Arne Delfs, Bloomberg (October 30, 2024): Germany’s ruling coalition may have already quietly quit
Marc Martorell Junyent, Jacobin (October 25, 2024): In Germany, Die Linke Seeks Hope Despite Repeated Splits
Czech Republic Parliamentary Elections: October 2025 (due)
The Czech Republic is due to hold parliamentary elections by October 2025 in a key test for the coalition led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s center-right Spolu alliance. Three of the four parties currently in the Spolu alliance plan to run together in the 2025 elections: the conservative Civic Democrats (ODS), center-right TOP 09, and Christian democratic KDU-CSK.
Former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s populist ANO won the September 2024 regional and Senate elections.
Jules Eisenchteter, Balkan Insight (October 30, 2024): Czech governing parties seek new momentum as Babis eyes comeback
Past Europe Elections
Bulgaria Snap Elections: October 27, 2024
Bulgaria held snap elections on October 27, the seventh elections in three years. The center-right GERB, led by former prime minister Boyko Borisov, came in first but fell short of a majority. GERB has won five of the seven recent elections but has not been able to form a durable government since 2021 (Borisov was previously prime minister three times, for a total of nine years, between 2009 and 2021).
GERB is pro-European while the other major party, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), has worked with overly pro-Russia parties in past coalitions.
Ivan Bedrov, RFE/RL (October 28, 2024): Will Borisov Be Able To Form A Bulgarian Government?
Antoaneta Roussi, Politico (October 27, 2024): Listless Bulgarian voters turn back to Borissov as political stalemate continues
AFP (October 27, 2024): Bulgaria’s centre-right GERB party leads in snap elections, falls short of majority
Euronews (October 24, 2024): Bulgaria heads to the polls for the seventh time in three years
Lithuania Parliamentary Elections: October 13 and 27, 2024
Lithuania’s Social Democrats won the recent parliamentary elections, defeating the center-right government of Ingrida Šimonytė. Lithuania’s pro-west foreign policy is unlikely to change.
Jon Henley, The Guardian (October 28, 2024): Lithuanian election winner promises to bolster defence to counter Russia threat
Giedre Peseckyte, Politico (October 27, 2024): Lithuania’s Social Democrats win parliamentary election
Liechtenstein Referendum on Funding Public Broadcasting
AP (October 28, 2024): Voters in Liechtenstein withdraw state funding from the country’s public radio broadcaster
Italy, Regional Elections in Liguria: October 27-28, 2024
Italy’s Liguria region held snap elections following the resignation of regional president Giovanni Toti in the wake of a corruption scandal. Mario Bucci, the conservative mayor of Genoa, the region’s capital, won, narrowly defeating Andrea Orlando of the center-left Democratic Party.
AFP (October 28, 2024): Italy’s Right Holds On To Liguria After Corruption Scandal
Austria Parliamentary Elections: September 29, 2024
Austria held parliamentary elections on September 29, 2024. The Putin-loving Freedom Party (FPÖ), founded by former SS officers, came in first place 29% of the vote, considered by many to be a shocking result. Although the FPÖ has never led a government, it has been the junior partner in government on two occasions in the past.
Other parties are now seeking to keep FPÖ out of power. Alexander Van Den Bellen, Austria’s president, has invited the incumbent chancellor, Karl Nehammer, from the center-right ÖVP, to try to form a government. ÖVP placed second in the elections.
Askin Kiyagan, Anadolu Agency (October 25, 2024): Austrian center-right, Social Democrats begin coalition talks after far-right election win
Nigel Jones, The Spectator (October 24, 2024): Austria’s far-right Freedom Party is being kept out of power
DW (October 24, 2024): Austria elects far-right parliamentary speaker
Elections On Deck
Europe This Week: October 30, 2024
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Last Updated: November 8, 2024 by 21votes
October 30, 2024
A weekly review of news and analysis of elections in Europe, usually posted on Wednesdays and occasionally updated throughout the week.
Upcoming Europe Elections
Romania Presidential Election: November 24, 2024 and Legislative Elections: December 1, 2024
Romania holds presidential and legislative elections later this year.
Una Hajdari at Politico notes: “The electoral outcome may keep Romania on its mostly pro-European, centrist path — or tip it toward more nativist policies that would sound alarm bells in Brussels because of the country’s strategic proximity to Ukraine and its role as a key southeast European economy.”
Una Hajdari, Politico (October 30, 2024): Romania’s election extravaganza awakens ghosts of fascist past
Iceland Snap Parliamentary Elections: November 30, 2024
Iceland is holding snap parliamentary elections on November 30, 2024 following the collapse of the coalition government of the conservative Independence Party, center-right Progressive Party, and the Left-Green Movement.
Andie Sophia Fontaine, Iceland Review (October 28, 2024): New Poll: Parliament May Go from Seven Parties to Five
Kosovo Parliamentary Elections: February 9, 2025
Kosovo is holding parliamentary elections on February 9, 2024. In the last elections, in 2021, Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s left-wing populist Vetëvendosje party won a landslide.
Nen Si, Euronews (October 30, 2024): Serbian Euro-Atlantic Council: Russia intends to destabilize Kosovo before the elections
Ardita Zeqiri and Antigonë Isufi, Prishtina Insight (October 29, 2024): Kosovo Government Announces Public Sector Pay Hike Ahead of 2025 Election
Albania Parliamentary Elections: By June 2025
Albania is due to hold parliamentary elections in June 2025 amid tension and protests by the opposition center-right Democratic Party demanding that the Socialist Party government of Edi Rama step down and appoint a caretaker government ahead of the vote. Democratic Party leaders have accused Rama of manipulating elections and corruption. Protesters are also demanding the release of Democratic Party figures who have been arrested, including former Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Albania is currently in membership negotiations with the European Union.
Llazar Semini, AP (October 29, 2024): Albania’s opposition blocks roads in a protest to demand a caretaker Cabinet
Germany Federal Parliamentary Elections: September 28, 2025
Germany’s 2025 federal elections come on the heels of three state elections in the east that delivered blows to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s left-leaning coalition government. The far-right AfD won in Thuringia and came in a close second in Saxony. While Scholz’s SPD pulled off a surprise win in Brandenburg, AfD made large gains there as well. In addition, a new pro-Putin, anti-establishment left-wing populist party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), won large percentages of the vote.
Notably, Die Linke (The Left), which formed from remnants of the Communist Party in the east, saw a major collapse in the recent state elections.
The governing coalition is currently hanging on by a thread and snap elections could happen.
Kamil Kowalcze and Arne Delfs, Bloomberg (October 30, 2024): Germany’s ruling coalition may have already quietly quit
Marc Martorell Junyent, Jacobin (October 25, 2024): In Germany, Die Linke Seeks Hope Despite Repeated Splits
Czech Republic Parliamentary Elections: October 2025 (due)
The Czech Republic is due to hold parliamentary elections by October 2025 in a key test for the coalition led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s center-right Spolu alliance. Three of the four parties currently in the Spolu alliance plan to run together in the 2025 elections: the conservative Civic Democrats (ODS), center-right TOP 09, and Christian democratic KDU-CSK.
Former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s populist ANO won the September 2024 regional and Senate elections.
Jules Eisenchteter, Balkan Insight (October 30, 2024): Czech governing parties seek new momentum as Babis eyes comeback
Past Europe Elections
Bulgaria Snap Elections: October 27, 2024
Bulgaria held snap elections on October 27, the seventh elections in three years. The center-right GERB, led by former prime minister Boyko Borisov, came in first but fell short of a majority. GERB has won five of the seven recent elections but has not been able to form a durable government since 2021 (Borisov was previously prime minister three times, for a total of nine years, between 2009 and 2021).
GERB is pro-European while the other major party, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), has worked with overly pro-Russia parties in past coalitions.
Ivan Bedrov, RFE/RL (October 28, 2024): Will Borisov Be Able To Form A Bulgarian Government?
Antoaneta Roussi, Politico (October 27, 2024): Listless Bulgarian voters turn back to Borissov as political stalemate continues
AFP (October 27, 2024): Bulgaria’s centre-right GERB party leads in snap elections, falls short of majority
Euronews (October 24, 2024): Bulgaria heads to the polls for the seventh time in three years
Lithuania Parliamentary Elections: October 13 and 27, 2024
Lithuania’s Social Democrats won the recent parliamentary elections, defeating the center-right government of Ingrida Šimonytė. Lithuania’s pro-west foreign policy is unlikely to change.
Jon Henley, The Guardian (October 28, 2024): Lithuanian election winner promises to bolster defence to counter Russia threat
Giedre Peseckyte, Politico (October 27, 2024): Lithuania’s Social Democrats win parliamentary election
Liechtenstein Referendum on Funding Public Broadcasting
AP (October 28, 2024): Voters in Liechtenstein withdraw state funding from the country’s public radio broadcaster
Italy, Regional Elections in Liguria: October 27-28, 2024
Italy’s Liguria region held snap elections following the resignation of regional president Giovanni Toti in the wake of a corruption scandal. Mario Bucci, the conservative mayor of Genoa, the region’s capital, won, narrowly defeating Andrea Orlando of the center-left Democratic Party.
AFP (October 28, 2024): Italy’s Right Holds On To Liguria After Corruption Scandal
Austria Parliamentary Elections: September 29, 2024
Austria held parliamentary elections on September 29, 2024. The Putin-loving Freedom Party (FPÖ), founded by former SS officers, came in first place 29% of the vote, considered by many to be a shocking result. Although the FPÖ has never led a government, it has been the junior partner in government on two occasions in the past.
Other parties are now seeking to keep FPÖ out of power. Alexander Van Den Bellen, Austria’s president, has invited the incumbent chancellor, Karl Nehammer, from the center-right ÖVP, to try to form a government. ÖVP placed second in the elections.
Askin Kiyagan, Anadolu Agency (October 25, 2024): Austrian center-right, Social Democrats begin coalition talks after far-right election win
Nigel Jones, The Spectator (October 24, 2024): Austria’s far-right Freedom Party is being kept out of power
DW (October 24, 2024): Austria elects far-right parliamentary speaker
Elections On Deck
Category: This Week Tags: Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Romania