Europe This Week – August 21, 2019

August 21, 2019

Each day, 21votes gathers election news, analysis, and opinions from a different region of the world. We explore Europe on Wednesdays. Click the map pins.

Germany State Elections – September 1, 2019 (Saxony and Brandenburg) and October 27, 2019 (Thuringia)

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Republic

Germany has a federal system with 16 Länder (states) that each have their own constitution, parliament (Landtag) and state government. The states have autonomy over internal policy, but do not have their own tax authority, and political parties are quite centralized at the federal level. Three states in the east hold elections this year: Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia. Brandenburg is currently governed by a coalition of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the populist Left (die Linke). Saxony has a grand coalition of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is projected to do well in all three state elections in the east this year. AfD won the most votes in Brandenburg in the European Parliament elections this year. It beat CDU in Saxony, and came close in Thuringia.

However, AfD did not succeed in winning its first mayoral contest. In a closely-watched mayoral election in Görlitz (nicknamed Görliwood because many films have been shot there), in Saxony, when CDU, the Greens, and SPD teamed up to defeat the AfD candidate in the runoff.

Italy General – Due by May 2023 (snap possible)

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Italy’s 2018 general elections resulted in a hung parliament. Two very different populist parties – the nationalist, anti-immigrant Lega (League – formerly the Northern League), and the Five Star Movement, founded by comedian Beppe Grillo – formed a contentious coalition, and there have been constant rumors that the coalition would collapse and spark snap elections.

Austria Snap Parliamentary – September 29, 2019 Vorarlberg State – October 13, 2019

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Republic

Austria’s government fell in a no-confidence vote – the first in Austria’s history – in May following the “Ibiza-gate” scandal involving the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), which had been part of the coalition headed by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the center-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache was filmed on the Spanish island of Ibiza offering state contracts in exchange for money to a woman who claimed to be the niece of a Russian oligarch. New elections will take place in September.

Kosovo Snap Parliamentary – Expected September or October 2019

Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Kosovo will likely hold snap elections this fall following the resignation of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj after he was summoned to The Hague about potential war crimes. Haradinaj, who had previously been acquitted for war crimes – became prime minister in snap elections in June 2017 following a no-confidence motion.

Kosovo – which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian – was formerly part of Serbia, and for a long time enjoyed a degree of autonomy. However, in 1999, in the context of the breakup of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic became president of Serbia and centralized control of Kosovo. This kicked off a bloody war between Serbian forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). NATO intervened with airstrikes and Kosovo was placed under UN administration. On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence, and the United States recognized the country on February 18. Other countries followed suit, and even though some countries continue to view Kosovo as a breakaway province of Serbia, many analysts believe that independence is an irreversible fact.

Kosovo has a number of political parties that compete in elections – many grew out of KLA networks or were founded by prominent KLA commanders. Personalities play a large role in the political parties – perhaps a bigger role than ideology, although many of the parties do have broadly-stated ideologies. Kosovo has a record of holding elections that are generally credible despite some concerns. Some violent incidents still occur.

Poland Parliamentary – October 13, 2019

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy

Poland’s right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) came to power in the 2015 elections, winning a majority, a first for a Polish political party in a free election. The party has been criticized for its increasingly authoritarian tendencies, but it nonetheless won a massive victory in this year’s European Parliament elections. The country is highly polarized, and upcoming parliamentary elections will be crucial in determining the country’s future course.

Switzerland Parliamentary – October 20, 2019

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Federal Republic (formally a confederation)

The right-wing populist Swiss People’s Party won by a landslide in Switzerland’s last elections, in 2015, but the government is an ideologically-diverse coalition of the four largest parties in parliament.

Romania Presidential – November 10, 2019

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic

Since communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu fell in 1989, Romania has become a free democracy but politics are volatile – the office of the prime minister has changed hands eight times since 2014. Corruption and weak rule of law remain serious problems. Liviu Dragnea, head of the governing left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD), is currently in prison for abuse of power. PSD only got 23 percent of votes in the May 2019 European Parliament election, half of the support it had in the 2016 parliamentary elections. The 2014 presidential elections handed a surprise victory to Klaus Iohannis, the center-right mayor of Sibiu in Transylvania, who defeated then-Prime Minister Victor Ponta in the runoff. Iohannis plans to run for a second term.

Serbia Parliamentary – Due April 2020 (snap possible) and Presidential (due 2022, snap possible)

Freedom House Rating: Partly Free (downgraded from Free in 2019) – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Serbia’s last snap parliamentary elections, in April 2016, resulted in a renewed majority for Prime Minister Alexander Vucic’s nationalist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). Serbia has tried to balance movement toward joining the European Union with maintaining good relations with Russia.

United Kingdom General – Due by May 5, 2022 (snap possible)

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy (a Commonwealth Realm)

The Conservatives won a majority in the the 2015 elections, allowing them to form a government on their own (they had defeated the incumbent Labour in the 2010 elections, but did not have a majority and had to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats). The Conservatives had promised to hold a referendum on leaving the European Union (Brexit), and the highly polarized vote delivered a win for the Brexiteers.

Following the result of the referendum, Cameron resigned as prime minister, and former Home Minister Teresa May won the subsequent Conservative Party leadership contest and became prime minister. May called for a new general election, but the gamble failed and the Conservatives lost their majority. They were able to form a government backed by a confidence-and-supply deal with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, a situation that significantly hindered the government’s ability to negotiate an exit. Following pressure, May resigned, and firebrand Brexiteer Boris Johnson won the leadership contest and became Prime Minister. Johnson has committed to delivering Brexit by October 31, 2019, with or without a deal. However, many MPs oppose leaving without a deal, creating a climate of tension and uncertainty in British politics.

Denmark Parliamentary – June 5, 2019

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy

Ireland Local –May 24, 2019

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Spain Snap Parliamentary – April 28, 2019

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy

The incumbent Socialists won the April snap elections, which Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called after failing to pass a budget. The far-right Vox won seats, the first time the far-right has been in parliament since Spain became a democracy (Vox also won seats in Andalusia’s regional elections in December, the first time for the far-right to enter any Spanish legislative body in the history of Spanish democracy).

Estonia Parliamentary – March 3, 2019

Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Estonia is the poster child for post-communist success. Kaja Kallas’ liberal Reform Party won Estonia’s March 2019 elections to the Riigikogu (parliament), but Prime Minister Juri Ratas pulled together a coalition with his Centre Party, the conservative Isamaa (Fatherland), and the far-right nationalist Conservative People’s Party (EKRE), despite having promised before the election that he would not do a deal with EKRE. The Centre Party is nominally liberal but actually pro-Kremlin (the party is a member of Renew Europe, the European party formerly known as the Alliance of Liberals and Democrat in Europe, and also has a cooperation protocol with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia). The newly-formed liberal Estonia 200 did not win any seats. EKRE doubled its support from the previous elections and leader Mart Helme and his son Martin were both made ministers in the new government. They both flashed a white supremacist hand gesture at their swearing-in.

Bosnia and Herzegovina General – October 7, 2018

Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Upcoming Elections
Germany State Elections – September 1, 2019 (Saxony and Brandenburg) and October 27, 2019 (Thuringia)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Republic

Germany has a federal system with 16 Länder (states) that each have their own constitution, parliament (Landtag) and state government. The states have autonomy over internal policy, but do not have their own tax authority, and political parties are quite centralized at the federal level. Three states in the east hold elections this year: Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia. Brandenburg is currently governed by a coalition of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the populist Left (die Linke). Saxony has a grand coalition of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is projected to do well in all three state elections in the east this year. AfD won the most votes in Brandenburg in the European Parliament elections this year. It beat CDU in Saxony, and came close in Thuringia.

However, AfD did not succeed in winning its first mayoral contest. In a closely-watched mayoral election in Görlitz (nicknamed Görliwood because many films have been shot there), in Saxony, when CDU, the Greens, and SPD teamed up to defeat the AfD candidate in the runoff.

Rachel Loxton, The Local: “For the first time ever, the AfD could take the top spot in state elections in Germany. How likely is it and what does it mean?”

Joseph Nasr, Reuters: “Merkel’s conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) jointly run the state of Saxony, mirroring their coalition at the national level in Berlin. In neighboring Brandenburg, the SPD governs along with the radical Left Party. Opinion polls suggest the anti-immigrant AfD could come first in both states in the Sept. 1 elections, in what would be a humiliating outcome for Merkel’s party and the SPD, which have ruled Germany together for 10 of her past 14 years in power.”

AFP: “Brandenburg elections: In east German rust belt, economic fears boost far-right“

Katrin Bennhold, New York Times: “At a moment when populism is riding high in various corners of Europe, often against the backdrop of economic distress and high unemployment, a downturn in the Continent’s richest and most stable liberal democracy could add fuel to the fire and strengthen the nationalist Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, analysts said.”

Guy Chazan, Financial Times: “Across Europe, mainstream politicians are being challenged by nativist, nationalist parties that have brought new volatility to once well-oiled political systems. Traditional parties of right and left face the same dilemma. Should they try to co-opt the upstarts by talking to them and even bringing them into government — a process Mr Patzelt describes as ‘moderation through engagement’? Or should they erect a cordon sanitaire around them, excluding them as much as possible from mainstream politics?”

DW: “Germany’s Jewish council warns against AfD’s ‘right-wing extremism’: The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany has sharply criticized the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, saying that it “incites fears and promotes a climate of exclusion of minorities.”

Italy General – Due by May 2023 (snap possible)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Italy’s 2018 general elections resulted in a hung parliament. Two very different populist parties – the nationalist, anti-immigrant Lega (League – formerly the Northern League), and the Five Star Movement, founded by comedian Beppe Grillo – formed a contentious coalition, and there have been constant rumors that the coalition would collapse and spark snap elections.

David A. Wemer, The Atlantic Council’s New Atlanticist: “Will Italy Get a New Government or Elections?”

John Follain, Bloomberg: “Italy’s President Wants a Stable Coalition. If Not, Elections”

Silvia Amaro, CNBC: “There’s an upside to the ongoing political crisis in Italy: the upcoming government cannot be worse than the current M5S-Lega coalition, a former official at the Bank of Italy, told CNBC Wednesday [August 21].”

The Economist: “Matteo Salvini hopes elections will make him Italy’s prime minister. Opponents of the populist will try to form a coalition to stop him”

Maurizio Molinari, The Guardian: “A dangerous new phase in Italy’s populist drama is beginning, with the nationalist League set on devouring its coalition partner

Austria Snap Parliamentary – September 29, 2019 Vorarlberg State – October 13, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Republic

Austria’s government fell in a no-confidence vote – the first in Austria’s history – in May following the “Ibiza-gate” scandal involving the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), which had been part of the coalition headed by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the center-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache was filmed on the Spanish island of Ibiza offering state contracts in exchange for money to a woman who claimed to be the niece of a Russian oligarch. New elections will take place in September.

AFP: “Austrian People’s party promises to ban far-right Identitarians. Centre-right MPs say the policy must be part of any coalition agreement after September’s elections.”

Kosovo Snap Parliamentary – Expected September or October 2019
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Kosovo will likely hold snap elections this fall following the resignation of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj after he was summoned to The Hague about potential war crimes. Haradinaj, who had previously been acquitted for war crimes – became prime minister in snap elections in June 2017 following a no-confidence motion.

Kosovo – which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian – was formerly part of Serbia, and for a long time enjoyed a degree of autonomy. However, in 1999, in the context of the breakup of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic became president of Serbia and centralized control of Kosovo. This kicked off a bloody war between Serbian forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). NATO intervened with airstrikes and Kosovo was placed under UN administration. On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence, and the United States recognized the country on February 18. Other countries followed suit, and even though some countries continue to view Kosovo as a breakaway province of Serbia, many analysts believe that independence is an irreversible fact.

Kosovo has a number of political parties that compete in elections – many grew out of KLA networks or were founded by prominent KLA commanders. Personalities play a large role in the political parties – perhaps a bigger role than ideology, although many of the parties do have broadly-stated ideologies. Kosovo has a record of holding elections that are generally credible despite some concerns. Some violent incidents still occur.

Perparim Isufi, Balkan Insight: “Lawmakers in Kosovo are expected to vote to dissolve parliament on Thursday, starting the countdown to a parliamentary election within 45 days. But even before the clock starts ticking, political parties are busy seeking running mates to improve their electoral prospects, often, analysts say, ignoring official ideological differences.”

Emirjeta Vllahiu, Prishtina Insight: “In anticipation of the government’s upcoming motion of no confidence to be cast on Thursday, political experts and members of the Kosovo Assembly warn of the consequences that the current legislature’s weak performance over the last two years will have on its new mandate.

Updated August 22, 2019

Reuters: “Kosovo lawmakers voted Thursday [August 22] to dissolve parliament, thereby triggering new elections.”

RFE/RL: “U.S. Ambassador Philip Kosnett welcomed the country’s ‘important step’ toward forming a new government and encouraged a ‘campaign in which candidates offer fresh ideas on talks with Serbia, rule of law, and economic development.’”

Gareth Browne, Euronews: “Kosovo’s political parties must rapidly form a government following an upcoming snap election, in order to prevent delays to Kosovo’s aspirations to join the EU and NATO, a senior official has told Euronews.”

AFP: “Kosovo has for months been locked in an impasse with Serbia, which still rejects the former province’s independence declaration in 2008. While most of the Western world recognises Kosovo, Belgrade and its allies China and Russia do not, effectively shutting it out of the United Nations.”

Poland Parliamentary – October 13, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy

Poland’s right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) came to power in the 2015 elections, winning a majority, a first for a Polish political party in a free election. The party has been criticized for its increasingly authoritarian tendencies, but it nonetheless won a massive victory in this year’s European Parliament elections. The country is highly polarized, and upcoming parliamentary elections will be crucial in determining the country’s future course.

Piotr Buras, Politico: “Poland’s new tune in Europe: Warsaw is taking a conciliatory line in Brussels while it doubles down at home”

Reuters: “Polish opposition parties have joined forces to try to win a majority in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, in parliamentary elections on Oct. 13, as they struggle to oust the ruling nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) from power.”

Marta Tycner, openDemocracy: “his is an unlikely alliance, and yet the only one possible. Three completely different streams of the Polish left and centre-left have united for an electoral coalition in the upcoming national election on October 13. With three male figures representing the coalition and smiling next to each other at press conferences, the arrangement was quickly nicknamed the ‘Three Tenors’ pact”

Portia Kentish, Emerging Europe: “All Out: The campaign against homophobia in Poland”

Switzerland Parliamentary – October 20, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Federal Republic (formally a confederation)

The right-wing populist Swiss People’s Party won by a landslide in Switzerland’s last elections, in 2015, but the government is an ideologically-diverse coalition of the four largest parties in parliament.

George Mills, The Local: “Inside Swiss politics: Why everyone is talking about this ‘worm poster’”

Romania Presidential – November 10, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Semi-Presidential Republic

Since communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu fell in 1989, Romania has become a free democracy but politics are volatile – the office of the prime minister has changed hands eight times since 2014. Corruption and weak rule of law remain serious problems. Liviu Dragnea, head of the governing left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD), is currently in prison for abuse of power. PSD only got 23 percent of votes in the May 2019 European Parliament election, half of the support it had in the 2016 parliamentary elections. The 2014 presidential elections handed a surprise victory to Klaus Iohannis, the center-right mayor of Sibiu in Transylvania, who defeated then-Prime Minister Victor Ponta in the runoff. Iohannis plans to run for a second term.

Matei Rosca, Politico: “For political guidance, Romanians look to the stars: In the age of freewheeling punditry, Romanian astrologers become political TV personalities.”

Serbia Parliamentary – Due April 2020 (snap possible) and Presidential (due 2022, snap possible)
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free (downgraded from Free in 2019) – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Serbia’s last snap parliamentary elections, in April 2016, resulted in a renewed majority for Prime Minister Alexander Vucic’s nationalist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). Serbia has tried to balance movement toward joining the European Union with maintaining good relations with Russia.

RFE/RL: “Serbia’s anti-government rally resumed on August 17 as hundreds of protesters gathered at Belgrade’s Terazijske fountain to march toward the presidential office with 42 demands for free and fair elections. Associated rallies were held in several other cities across the country.”

Milos Damnjanovic, Balkan Insight: “Opposition Election Boycott Won’t Topple Serbia’s Regime: The opposition has forgotten the lessons of Serbia’s past history if it thinks an election boycott will bring down Aleksandar Vucic’s authoritarian government.”

United Kingdom General – Due by May 5, 2022 (snap possible)
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy (a Commonwealth Realm)

The Conservatives won a majority in the the 2015 elections, allowing them to form a government on their own (they had defeated the incumbent Labour in the 2010 elections, but did not have a majority and had to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats). The Conservatives had promised to hold a referendum on leaving the European Union (Brexit), and the highly polarized vote delivered a win for the Brexiteers.

Following the result of the referendum, Cameron resigned as prime minister, and former Home Minister Teresa May won the subsequent Conservative Party leadership contest and became prime minister. May called for a new general election, but the gamble failed and the Conservatives lost their majority. They were able to form a government backed by a confidence-and-supply deal with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, a situation that significantly hindered the government’s ability to negotiate an exit. Following pressure, May resigned, and firebrand Brexiteer Boris Johnson won the leadership contest and became Prime Minister. Johnson has committed to delivering Brexit by October 31, 2019, with or without a deal. However, many MPs oppose leaving without a deal, creating a climate of tension and uncertainty in British politics.

Guy Faulconbridge and Costas Pitas, Reuters: “Conservatives take 14 percent point lead over Labour – Kantar poll”

Frank Langfitt, NPR: “Can U.K.’s New Prime Minister Pull Off Brexit? Here’s What To Know”

Thinios Tzallas, The Independent: “Boris Johnson will be the Alexis Tsipras of 2019. Here’s why: The most valuable lesson that the Tsipras experience can teach Johnson? The EU is not about to give up representing its 27 member-states in order to indulge the whims of a populist leader

Past Elections
Denmark Parliamentary – June 5, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy

World Politics Review: “What Can Denmark’s Left Do With Its Largest Mandate in 60 Years?”

Ireland Local –May 24, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Jennifer Bray, Irish Times: “New councillors from Bangladesh, India and Sweden on life in Irish politics: Limerick’s first Muslim councillor says most people are welcoming and ‘like new voices’…. Over the course of that May weekend, 948 other councillors were elected. And yet only nine of these are from a migrant background, according to figures from the Immigrant Council of Ireland, up from three in 2014.”

Spain Snap Parliamentary – April 28, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy

The incumbent Socialists won the April snap elections, which Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called after failing to pass a budget. The far-right Vox won seats, the first time the far-right has been in parliament since Spain became a democracy (Vox also won seats in Andalusia’s regional elections in December, the first time for the far-right to enter any Spanish legislative body in the history of Spanish democracy).

Updated August 23, 2019

Elena Sánchez Nicolás, Euronews: “A one-month countdown began on Friday (23 August) for Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez to form a new government or face elections.”

Estonia Parliamentary – March 3, 2019
Freedom House Rating: Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Estonia is the poster child for post-communist success. Kaja Kallas’ liberal Reform Party won Estonia’s March 2019 elections to the Riigikogu (parliament), but Prime Minister Juri Ratas pulled together a coalition with his Centre Party, the conservative Isamaa (Fatherland), and the far-right nationalist Conservative People’s Party (EKRE), despite having promised before the election that he would not do a deal with EKRE. The Centre Party is nominally liberal but actually pro-Kremlin (the party is a member of Renew Europe, the European party formerly known as the Alliance of Liberals and Democrat in Europe, and also has a cooperation protocol with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia). The newly-formed liberal Estonia 200 did not win any seats. EKRE doubled its support from the previous elections and leader Mart Helme and his son Martin were both made ministers in the new government. They both flashed a white supremacist hand gesture at their swearing-in.

Reuters: “Estonia President Kersti Kaljulaid said on Monday that Finance Minister Martin Helme, one of the leaders of the far-right EKRE party, was unfit to serve in the cabinet, citing Helme’s attempt to fire the head of the police force last week. The president’s statement put pressure on Prime Minister Juri Ratas, although he has shown little sign of moving against his partner in a four-month-old coalition.”

ERR: “Estonia’s largest newspapers agreed in their Monday [August 19] editorials that Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Centre) has been too accommodating towards EKRE, and that the much-cited “red lines” of the prime minister, limits of a certain brand of politics and good taste that he said after the general election he wouldn’t accept, no longer exist.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina General – October 7, 2018
Freedom House Rating: Partly Free – Government Type: Parliamentary Republic

Emma Beswick, Euronews: “Why is Bosnia still without a government 10 months after elections? | Euronews Answers”

Mladen Lakic, Balkan Insight: “Deep disagreement over Bosnia’s future NATO membership is holding up the formation of a new national government.”

 

The Year Ahead: Europe
Germany, Brandenburg and Saxony states (September 1); Norway local (September 9); Portugal, Madeiran regional (September 22); Austria snap parliamentary (September 29); Finland Åland regional parliament and local (October); Portugal parliamentary (October 6); Hungary local (October 13); Austria Vorarlberg state (October 13); Switzerland Federal Assembly (October 20); Bulgaria local (October 27); Germany Thuringia state (October 27); Poland parliamentary (November); Romania presidential (November 3); Croatia presidential (December); Slovakia parliamentary (March 2020); Serbia parliamentary, provincial, local (March or April 2020); Poland presidential (May 2020); Iceland presidential (June 2020)

 


Matteo Salvini hopes that snap elections will make him Italy’s prime minister. Photo credit: Wikimedia/Lega Salvini Premier (CC BY 3.0)

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