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AfD members sit in voting booths on the day of the European election assembly 2023 of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Magdeburg, Germany, July 29, 2023. Thursday's vote in Thuringia's parliament, when the far right, the conservative Christian Democrats and the pro-business Free Democrats combined to push through a tax cut against the wishes of the left-wing coalition, is the latest sign of change. But, highlighting the dilemma, the regional CDU leader Mario Voigt said such a course of action would effectively deprive him of the right to oppose. The party's regional leader, Bjorn Hoecke, is currently on trial for hate speech after uttering a slogan that stems from a Nazi chant. "We democrats have to stop the finger-pointing, sit down together and find a position that lives up to that responsibility."

Persons: Annegret, Germany's, Bodo Ramelow, Mario Voigt, Bjorn Hoecke, Stephan Kramer, Daniel Guenther, Thomas Escritt, Rachel More, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Christian Democrats, Free Democrats, CDU, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Thomson Locations: Germany, Magdeburg, Rights ERFURT, Thuringia's, Thuringian, Sonneberg, Saxony, Anhalt, Thuringia, East Germany, West Germany, Brandenburg, Berlin, Schlweswig, Holstein

☆ Thousands protest against Germany's far-right AfD party
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MAGDEBURG, Germany, July 29 (Reuters) - Thousands took to the streets to protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Friday and Saturday as the party held a convention to choose its candidates for European parliamentary elections next year. Polling at 22% behind the opposition conservatives, the AfD denies it is a Nazi party. [1/5]People gather on the day of the European election assembly 2023 of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Magdeburg, Germany, July 29, 2023. Germany's main opposition leader Friedrich Merz was on Monday forced to row back from comments suggesting he could work with the AfD at a local level. Vocal among the protesters in Magdeburg were "Grannies against the far-right" calling for an end to racism and far-right politics.

Persons: Alice Weidel, Friedrich Merz, Merz, Maria Martinez, Oliver Denzer, Alvise Armellini, Giles Elgood Organizations: Protesters, Nazi, Analysts, Repubblica, REUTERS, Christian Democrats, CDU, Vocal, Thomson Locations: MAGDEBURG, Germany, Magdeburg

☆ What’s Happening in Giorgia Meloni’s Italy Is Scary - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( David Broder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

In recent weeks, Ms. Meloni spearheaded a European Union deal with Tunisia, whose authoritarian regime promotes the great replacement conspiracy theory, to curb migration in exchange for financial support. The new director general, Giampaolo Rossi, is a pro-Meloni hard-liner who previously distinguished himself as an organizer of an annual Brothers of Italy festival. Burying the antifascist legacy of the wartime Resistance matters deeply to the Brothers of Italy, a party rooted in its fascist forefathers’ great defeat in 1945. No matter its novelty, Ms. Meloni’s administration has every chance of imposing enduring changes in the political order. Instead, in galvanizing the political right behind a resentful identity politics, it risks becoming something else entirely: Europe’s future.

Persons: Ms, Meloni’s, ”, — Ms, Meloni, Giampaolo Rossi, ’, It’s, Éric, Democrats ’ Organizations: Union, Amnesty, RAI, “, Brothers, Conservatives, Democrats Locations: Italy, Tunisia, Libya, of Italy, Britain, Germany

☆ Riikka Purra: Finnish finance minister apologizes for racist and violent comments made online in 2008
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Zahid Mahmood | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Finnish finance minister Riikka Purra has apologized after she made racist comments in 2008 that were recently discovered online. The leader of the far-right Finns Party said her old comments were “stupid” and that she was sorry for the harm they had caused. Purra’s Finns Party won second place in April’s elections, finishing behind Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s National Coalition Party, before forming a coalition. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said his government was committed to combating racism. “Our immigration policy is legitimate and legal and there is nothing wrong or suspicious about it,” Purra added on Twitter.

Persons: Riikka Purra, “, ” Purra, ”, Petteri, Orpo, Petteri Orpo, Ksenia Kuleshova, ” Orpo, Purra Organizations: CNN, Finns Party, Purra’s Finns Party, Finnish, National Coalition Party, Bloomberg, Getty, Swedish People’s Party, Christian, Twitter Locations: Spain, Finnish, Finland, Nordic

☆ Finland's parliament backs Petteri Orpo as PM, replacing Sanna Marin
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] National Coalition Party chair PM-designate Petteri Orpo speaks to the media, on the day of a press conference, where the four-party cabinet released the details of the governing agenda, in Helsinki, Finland, June 16, 2023. Lehtikuva/Kimmo Penttinen via REUTERSHELSINKI, June 20 (Reuters) - Finland's newly elected parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of National Coalition Party leader Petteri Orpo to become prime minister, as widely expected, ushering in a right-wing government and ending Social Democrat Sanna Marin's rule. The new finance minister will be Riikka Purra, head of the eurosceptic Finns Party, while the NCP's deputy leader Elina Valtonen will become foreign minister when the government takes office later on Tuesday. "I warmly thank you for the confidence you've shown me," Orpo told parliament shortly after the vote. A self-styled fiscal conservative, Orpo campaigned on a promise to reduce the government's budget deficit by cutting spending while also reducing taxes and seeking to boost private sector job creation.

Persons: Petteri Orpo, Penttinen, Sanna, Elina Valtonen, Orpo, Essi Lehto, Terje Solsvik Organizations: National Coalition Party, REUTERS, NCP, Finns, Swedish People's Party, Christian Democrats, eurosceptic Finns Party, Finns Party, Thomson Locations: Helsinki, Finland, REUTERS HELSINKI

[1/5] Newly elected Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner and his predecessor and designated Berlin Senator for Economics and Energy Franziska Giffey look on at the city's town hall Rotes Rathaus (Red Townhall), in Berlin, Germany, April 27, 2023. REUTERS/Nadja WohllebenBERLIN, April 27 (Reuters) - Berlin appointed its first conservative mayor in more than two decades on Thursday after the Christian Democrats (CDU) beat Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) in a repeat election in February, dislodging its centre-left coalition. Kai Wegner, 50, a former insurance salesman, was sworn in as mayor after a vote in local parliament, succeeding the SPD's Franziska Giffey who had been Berlin's first female mayor. His CDU won a clear victory in February's election held after a court ruled the 2021 vote invalid due to irregularities. Critics have accused his CDU party of dog-whistle politics.

[1/5] A general view shows the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant, as Germany shuts down its last nuclear power plants in Neckarwestheim, Germany, April 14, 2023. Following years of prevaricating, Germany pledged to quit nuclear power definitively after Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster sent radiation spewing into the air and terrifying the world. Germany's commercial nuclear sector began with the commissioning of the Kahl reactor in 1961: eagerly promoted by politicians but met with scepticism by companies. With the end of the atomic power era, Germany has to find a permanent repository for around 1,900 highly radioactive casks of nuclear waste by 2031. The government also acknowledges that safety issues remain given that neighbours France and Switzerland still depend heavily on nuclear power.

☆ Hungary ruling party seeks new delay in Nordic NATO ratifications
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUDAPEST, March 14 (Reuters) - Hungary's ruling party lawmakers want to postpone next week's parliament session, which means a further delay in its ratification of Finland and Sweden's NATO admission. The ruling Fidesz party confirmed to Reuters that parliament would not hold a session next week, which they said was due to a "delay in negotiations with Brussels." Hungary is mired in a dispute with the European Commission over the release of EU funds. Sweden and Finland applied last year for membership of the transatlantic military alliance after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. All 30 NATO members must ratify the applications, and Hungary and Turkey have held back their approvals.

☆ Berlin chooses change in rerun election with clear lead for conservatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Riham Alkousaa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/7] Berlin?s frontrunner for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Kai Wegner, for the rerun of state elections reacts at the regional state parliament in Berlin, Germany, February 12, 2023. The Social Democrats, who have governed the German capital in a coalition with the environmentalist Greens and hard-left Die Linke, scored 18.2%. "Berlin chose change", CDU top candidate Kai Wegner said of the results, adding that there was a clear mandate for his party to form a state government. Berlin's left-wing mayor Franziska Giffey acknowledged the election defeat but said the CDU would still need a stable majority to govern in the city. Talk of a possible two-way coalition with the CDU was received with booing at the Greens election party on Sunday.

☆ Jump or be pushed: German conservatives turn on ex-Nazi hunter over race comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Once he was Germany's top Nazi hunter. Now the conservative opposition want to kick former domestic security chief Hans-Georg Maassen out of their party for allegedly repeating anti-Semitic and racist tropes. But the long-time member and one-time parliamentary candidate of former Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) lost that job after being accused of ignoring video evidence of far-right gangs chasing immigrants in riots. Maassen, who has always strongly denied charges of racism, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Under German party democracy laws introduced to prevent the re-emergence of dictatorial parties like Hitler's Nazis, expulsion can only follow a series of quasi-judicial hearings to establish whether a member is in conflict with the party's values.

☆ Tesla under fire in Germany over union concerns on working hours, contracts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Workers were also increasingly fearful about discussing their working conditions openly because of non-disclosure agreements they were told to sign along with their work contracts, IG Metall said. Over time we are observing that this enthusiasm is withering," Irene Schulz of IG Metall Berlin-Brandenburg-Sachsen said in a statement. "Tesla is not doing enough to improve working conditions and is leaving too little time for leisure, family and recovery." Tesla China has also asked some staff to sign non-disclosure agreements, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. Reuters found several people on LinkedIn with the title of "Security Intelligence Investigator" working for Tesla in Austin, San Francisco and Shanghai.

☆ After New Year's Eve violence, German police union calls for action
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Germany’s biggest police union called Tuesday for concerted action to prevent a repeat of the violent excesses seen in Berlin and other cities during the New Year’s celebrations, in which officers, firefighters and medical personnel were attacked with fireworks. Police in the capital recorded dozens of attacks and said 41 officers were injured. Online videos showing people firing rockets and throwing firecrackers at police cars and rescue vehicles drew widespread condemnation from German authorities. Some conservative and far-right politicians have noted that some of the attacks took place in areas of Berlin with large immigrant communities. Experts say the absence of such a ban may have contributed to the scale of violence and large number of fireworks injuries — including at least one death — seen this year.

☆ New Swedish government to cut fuel taxes, boost defence, police in budget
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Sweden's new right-wing government will cut fuel taxes and give extra cash to the military and police in its first budget since winning a general election in September, it said on Monday. "The starting point for the budget is to make sure that the Swedish economy can withstand the difficult economic times that are ahead of us," the four parties said in an article in Dagens Nyheter newspaper. The four parties gave no figure for how much the main budget measures would cost or by how much the government would increase spending. However, the government has previously said it would cost around 6.7 billion Swedish crowns ($620 million) next year to cut fuel taxes, with an extra 5 billion to go to defence and around 5.8 billion for maintaining higher levels of unemployment insurance introduced during the coronavirus pandemic. ($1 = 10.8254 Swedish crowns)Reporting by Simon Johnson; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Czech markets were jolted on Wednesday on news the government could widen its proposed tax on excessive profits to include 2022 earnings, earlier than existing plans applying only to 2023-2025. Stanjura told reporters after the government met that the cabinet still leaned towards putting the windfall tax in place for 2023, calming markets somewhat. A government source had earlier said legal implications for the tax were still being considered. The windfall tax should be imposed on banks with more than 6 billion crowns ($240 million) of net interest income in 2021. A windfall tax would help cover protective measures such as a cap on electricity prices.

☆ Swedish Moderates party leader strikes deal to form minority government
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

STOCKHOLM, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The leader of Sweden's Moderates party, Ulf Kristersson, said on Friday he had agreed a deal with the Christian Democrats and the Liberals to form a minority coalition government after the right-wing bloc won a majority in last month's election. With backing from the Sweden Democrats, Kristersson is all but certain to win parliament's support for his government. That government will co-operate closely with the Sweden Democrats," he said. The right-wing bloc secured a slim majority, winning 176 seats in the 349-member parliament in the election on Sept. 11. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje SolsvikOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Sweden's Moderates ask for more time to agree coalition after election win
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Moderates, Christian Democrats, Sweden Democrats and Liberals won 176 seats against 173 for the centre-left in the Sept. 11 vote, but their loose alliance has to be formalised if Kristersson is to become prime minister. read more"Nothing is finalised until everything is finalised," Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson told reporters after meeting the speaker of parliament. Kristersson's Moderates have fewer seats than the Sweden Democrats, a populist, anti-immigrant party with roots in the far-right fringe, but Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Akesson cannot secure enough backing to form a government himself. The Liberals, whose support Kristersson also needs, have ruled out sitting in government with the Sweden Democrats and will not support a coalition that includes them. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Simon Johnson Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Czech opposition party wins most major cities in local election
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala speaks during an interview with Reuters in Prague, Czech Republic, July 13, 2022. REUTERS/David W CernyPRAGUE, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's opposition ANO party won most of the country's major cities in municipal elections seen as a test for the ruling coalition's handling of the energy crisis. The opposition has been saying that the government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala has done too little too late to help the people. Among the individual parties, ANO came out behind two parties of the ruling coalition, Prime Minister Fiala's Civic Democrats, and the Christian Democrats. Regardless of the second round results, the ruling coalition will maintain its majority in the Senate.

☆ Sweden's Moderate Party leader gets nod to try form a new government
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Moderate party leader Ulf Kristersson delivers a speach at the Moderate party election watch at the Clarion Sign Hotel, in Stockholm, Sweden, September 12, 2022.TT News Agency/Fredrik Sandberg via REUTERSOSLO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Sweden's Moderate Party leader, Ulf Kristersson, has been handed a mandate to try and form the country's next government after a recent general election gave the right-wing bloc a majority, the speaker of parliament said on Monday. The Moderates, Sweden Democrats, Christian Democrats and Liberals won 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament, narrowly ahead of the centre-left's 173 seats, according to the Swedish election authority. read moreKristersson is widely expected to try to form a minority government, leaving one or two right-wing parties out while relying on their support in parliament. read moreThe election marks a watershed in Swedish politics with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in the white supremacist fringe, on the threshold of gaining influence over government policy. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Stine JacobsenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Top 10 political crisis that shook the Republic of Moldova
▼ + stars: | 2019-04-28 | by ( ) tribuna.md time to read: +5 min

The Republic of Moldova faces a political crisis which is deepening every day. The political crisis of 1999The year 1999 was marked by a continuing political crisis. The political crisis of 200After the constitutional reform of 5 July 2000, Moldova became a parliamentary republic. As a result, a profound political crisis began, which lasted from October 2015 to January 2016. The political crisis of 1993In 1993, the Speaker, Alexandru Moșanu, and many other senior officials in Parliament resigned from positions in protest over the political situation that had arisen.

Persons: Nicolae Timofti, Alexandru Moșanu, Vlad Filat Organizations: Communist, Christian Democratic Party of People, of Europe, Government, Christian Democrats, Sturza, Braghiș, PCRM, Communists, Alliance for Locations: Republic of Moldova, Moldova, Princely, Moldovan

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