Milen Lyubenov
Milen Lyubenov and Dragomir Stoyanov argue that the Bulgarian parliamentary elections of April 2026 may well have resolved a five-year political crisis through a landslide victory for ex-President Rumen Radev’s new political formation, ‘Progressive Bulgaria’ Read more
Jan Pieter Beetz
Pro-EU MEPs have long pursued a logic of democratisation based on institutional mimicry. But as Jan Pieter Beetz, Gilles Pittoors and Wouter Wolfs argue, this path has become ideologically entrenched at the expense of alternative models that might better connect with European citizens Read more
Ugur Tekiner
European elections are traditionally seen as less significant than national elections. But Ugur Tekiner argues that the recent challenges facing the EU force us to rethink this classification. Recent European elections accurately reflect the national political mood in Member States, and reveal the growing polarisation around Europe Read more
Tyyne Karjalainen
Hungary’s blocking behaviour risks derailing Ukraine’s fragile pro-European momentum. If not addressed, it could fuel Euroscepticism, embolden authoritarian spoilers, and hollow out the EU’s enlargement promise. Tyyne Karjalainen explores what options are on the table to restore credibility to the accession process Read more
Miruna Butnaru-Troncotă
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine forced the EU to revive its enlargement agenda, but growing politicisation risks sidelining the Western Balkans yet again. Miruna Butnaru Troncotă argues that the EU's future credibility and cohesion hinge on treating Western Balkan integration just as urgently as Eastern enlargement Read more
Ivaylo Dinev
On Sunday 9 June 2024, Bulgaria went to the polls for the sixth parliamentary elections in three years. Bulgaria's political crisis, however, is far from over, writes Ivaylo Dinev Read more
James F. Downes
James F. Downes argues that elections to the European Parliament will likely lead to record representation for populist far-right parties. Lack of unity and ideological divisions, however, will make it difficult for the far right to wield any real power Read more
Ariadna Ripoll Servent
The presence of populist governments in European Union policy-making has been largely ignored. Ariadna Ripoll Servent and Natascha Zaun argue that we should pay attention to populists’ behaviour in the Council of the EU. Populist governments do not play by the normal rules of the game; rather, they use ‘unpolitics’. This destructive approach to policy-making was instrumental in blocking a reform of EU migration politics Read more
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