EU Member States

Hot Topics

A traffic light with red, yellow, and green signals against a background with a silhouette of a German eagle.
Better World Info | Ai generated by Pikaso

2025 German federal election.

Germany held federal elections on 23 February, nearly six months early after Chancellor Olaf Scholz ended the ruling coalition. The coalition parties suffered heavy losses: The SPD dropped nearly ten points to 16.4%, the Greens fell to 11.6%, and the FDP lost all its seats. Conceding defeat, Scholz cleared the way for Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz to become the likely next chancellor. The CDU emerged as the largest party, while the far-right AfD surged to 20.8%, more than doubling its 2021 result. The AfD is projected to secure 152 seats, marking the strongest showing by a far-right party in Germany since World War II. 

2025 German federal election.
photo of a person's hand depositing their vote in a ballot box, with the flag of Romania in the background
Image by Freepick

Romania’s Electoral Crisis

Following the release of declassified intelligence documents accusing far-right candidate Călin Georgescu of alleged ties to Moscow, Romania's Constitutional Court has annulled the first round of its presidential election, declaring it so severely compromised that it must be repeated. The evidence indicated that Georgescu's campaign benefited from social media manipulation, including cyber-attacks, coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms, and paid advertising.

Romania’s Electoral Crisis
The Feench flag is held up high in a square with the words 'liberte, egalite, and fraternite' written on it
Flickr | Théo Paul

France Legislative Election 2024

France has been plunged into political turmoil after Macron dissolved parliament and called for a snap election triggered by a crushing defeat to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party at the European Parliament elections. These elections will determine the composition of the French National Assembly and are crucial for establishing the governmental agenda. France has been marred with widespread protests since the start of Macrons presidency. His win only secured by the peoples will to keep the far-right from gaining power.

France Legislative Election 2024
Image by Jim Black from Pixabay

How bad is immigration into Greece?

Geographically positioned as the natural gateway from the Middle-East into Europe, it is estimated that 90% of illegal immigration into the EU is via Greece. Under mounting pressure, and facing its own economic problems, relations at the Turkish border are tense. How is Greece coping with the arrival of swaths of asylum seekers?

How bad is immigration into Greece?
Middle-aged white politician wearing a black suit smiles
Wikimedia | Roman Kubanskiy

Macron’s Pension reform

President Macron is facing strong opposition to his plan to push back the retirement age. Widespread protests and polls continue to show that French citizens strongly disapprove of the plan to push back by two years the age at which people can receive a full pension. France currently requires 62 years to qualify for a state pension, one of the lowest ages among major European economies.

Macron’s Pension reform
Image by Robert Pastryk from Pixabay

Rise of the right-wing in Poland

Over the last few years there has been a worrying trend towards far-right political policies. Human rights concerns have been raised regarding freedom of expression, increased pressure of judges and prosecutors to fall in line, worsening conditions for women, and frequent attacks on members of the LGBTQ community.

Rise of the right-wing in Poland
Image by lmaresz from Pixabay

Democracy in danger - Hungary

2019 saw the beginning of the dismantling of many democratic institutions. Changes in courts which will impact corruption and police conduct cases took effect. Education is now under state control, and strict asylum laws have caused huge problems in neighbouring Serbia. The media is also being tightly controlled, and critical journalists vilified. What is next for Hungary, and has democracy disappeared for good?

Democracy in danger - Hungary
Privacy
The controller (Dr. Norbert Stute, Austria) would like to use the following services in order to process your personal data. Technologies such as cookies, localStorage, etc. can be used for personalization. This is not necessary for the use of the website, but allows us to interact with you more closely. If you wish, you can adjust or revoke your consent at any time via our privacy policy.