Elections Archives

The European Union must unite in its response to dealing with the huge number of refugees surging into the bloc or else it will fail, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said today (10 December).

Refugees will dominate the three day meeting of the SPD in Berlin. Party leader Sigmar Gabriel is almost certainly going to be re-elected, but the nature of his victory will be all-important. EURACTIV's partner Tagesspiegel reports.

Bulgarian Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov resigned on Wednesday (9 December) after parliament watered down changes to the constitution in a vote which he said would prevent genuine reforms to the country's graft-prone and inefficient judiciary.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump yesterday (8 December) defended his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, comparing his plan to the World War Two detainment of Japanese-Americans in an attempt to dismiss growing outrage from around the world.

France's mainstream political parties were scrambling for a way to stop the rise of the far-right National Front (FN) after its historic first-round lead in the first round of the regional elections on 6 December, before the run-offs on 13 December.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose Peoples’ Party (PP) is caught up in judicial probes over corruption, again chose to stay away from a televised debate yesterday (6 December), ahead of the 20 December parliamentary elections.

A Czech communist member of the European Parliament denied yesterday (6 December) that he had tried to carry out an illegal transaction involving €350 million at a Swiss bank.

Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma said today (7 December) that she was resigning her post after political squabbles within her centre right ruling coalition and dissatisfaction about her leadership.

France's far-right National Front pulled off a historic win yesterday (6 December), topping the vote in the first round of regional elections, in a breakthrough that shakes up the country's political landscape before 2017 presidential elections.

Belgium’s international image is deteriorating further as the country's regions - French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders - prove unable to agree on the distribution of monies coming from its national emission trading fund.

Eurosceptic Denmark goes to the polls on Thursday (3 December) in a referendum on stepping up its participation in EU police and judicial cooperation, with the outcome uncertain amid fears ranging from jihadist attacks to the refugee crisis.

Journalists gathered yesterday (24 November) in the press room of Poland's new conservative government discovered that the blue and gold star-studded European Union flag normally on display was gone, leaving only its red-and-white Polish counterpart.

Portugal's president named Socialist leader Antonio Costa as prime minister on Tuesday, ending weeks of political stalemate and paving the way for the first, if potentially unstable, Socialist government reliant on the far left for its survival.

Slovakia will launch legal action by next month against an EU quota plan to distribute 160,000 refugees and migrants across the bloc, a justice ministry spokeswoman told AFP today (24 November).

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu today (24 November) unveiled a new cabinet stacked with loyal allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an - including his son-in-law who was named energy minister.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced pressure from her own conservatives yesterday (23 November) to change course on her open-door refugee policy after an affront by the leader of her Bavarian allies drove up tensions in her ruling coalition.

MEP Hans van Baalen (VVD), a Dutch member of the European Parliament, was elected the new President of the ALDE Party at the ALDE Party Congress in Budapest on Saturday (21 November), triumphing over former Estonian Commissioner Siim Kallas.

US Senator Rand Paul, a candidate in the Republican presidential primaries, called for a halt yesterday (18 November) to the visa waiver program for travellers from countries including France in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Milos Zeman, the President of the Czech Republic, attended a rally against refugees and Islam in Prague on Tuesday (17 November) on the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which peacefully toppled Communism in then Czechoslovakia.

At least 26 of the 50 US states said yesterday (16 November) they won't accept Syrian refugees following Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris.

The terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday (13 November) has prompted the temporary suspension of Spain's election campaign. EURACTIV Spain reports.

The Paris attacks have hit a sensitive nerve in Romania, which is mourning the victims of a fire in a Bucharest nightclub that brought down the government of Prime Minister Victor Ponta. EURACTIV Romania reports.

Only MEPs from the EPP, the Socialists & Democrats, and ALDE have voted in favour of making the next European elections more “European”, according to a study published by VoteWatch Europe yesterday (12 November).

European Union leaders will roll out the red carpet for Turkey’s newly re-elected President Recep Tayip Erdo?an at a summit about how to help the country stop the flow of Syrian refugees from its borders into the EU.