2020s in European history

The history of Europe during the 2020s covers political events on the continent, other than elections, from 2020 to the present, culminating when the year 2029 ends.

During the early 2020s, a major concern was the pandemic of Covid-19, and different concerns and restrictions, as countries sought ways to prevent or limit the spread of the disease.

The outcomes of European national elections varied, with shifts in political power and the emergence of new leaders. Issues such as immigration, economic policies (especially concerning with inflation), the invasion of Ukraine and its impacts played significant roles in shaping European political agendas. Populist movements continued to have an impact on European politics.^[1] Some countries like Italy, the Netherlands and Slovakia experienced the rise of populist leaders and parties.^[2]

The Greens became a governing party for the first time in January 2020 as part of a coalition deal with the right-wing Austrian People's Party.^[3] On 6 October 2021, Austrian anti-corruption prosecutors conducted a raid on the offices of Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the headquarters of the Austrian People's Party and the Federal Ministry of Finance.^[4] Kurz has been accused of embezzlement and bribery, along with nine high-profile politicians and newspaper executives.^[4] As a result of the raid, Kurz has sustained heavy criticism from his junior The Greens, as well as the opposition.^[5] On 9 October 2021, Kurz announced his resignation,^[6] with Alexander Schallenberg to serve as his replacement.^[7] As a result of the resignation, Kogler announced his intention to continue the governing coalition.^[7]

In the 2022 Austrian presidential election, incumbent Green president Van der Bellen was re-elected in the first round with 57% of the vote. Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) candidate Walter Rosenkranz placed second with 18% of the votes, a significant decline from the party's result in the 2016 presidential election.^[8]

The 2020 Belarusian presidential election was held on Sunday, 9 August 2020. Early voting began on 4 August and ran until 8 August.^[9] Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko was reelected to the sixth term in office, with official results crediting him with 80% of the vote. Lukashenko has won every presidential election since 1994,^[10] with all but the first being labelled by international monitors as neither free nor fair.^[11]

Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed to have won a decisive first-round victory with at least 60% of the vote, and called on Lukashenko to start negotiations. Her campaign subsequently formed the Coordination Council to facilitate a transfer of power and stated that it was ready to organize "long-term protests" against the official results.^[12][13] All seven members of the Coordination Council Presidium were subsequently arrested or went into exile. Numerous countries refused to accept the result of the election, as did the European Union, which imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials deemed to be responsible for "violence, repression and election fraud".^[14]

The largest anti-government protests in the history of Belarus began in the lead-up to and during the election. Initially moderate, the protests intensified nationwide after official election results were announced on the night of 10 August, in which Lukashenko was declared the winner. Following the forced landing of Ryanair Flight 4978 to arrest opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, the European Union agreed to ban EU-based airlines from flying through Belarusian airspace, to ban Belarusian carriers from flying into EU airspace, and to implement a fresh round of sanctions.^[15]

The 2021 Belarus–European Union border crisis was a migrant crisis manifested in a massive influx of Middle Eastern and African migrants (mainly from Iraq) to Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland via those countries' borders with Belarus. The crisis was triggered by the severe deterioration in Belarus–European Union relations, following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident, and the attempted repatriation of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya. The three EU nations have described the crisis as hybrid warfare by human trafficking of migrants, waged by Belarus against the European Union, and called on Brussels to intervene.^[16][17]

The 2020–2021 Bulgarian protests were a series of demonstrations held in Bulgaria, mainly in the capital Sofia, as well as cities with a large Bulgarian diaspora, such as Brussels,^[18] Paris,^[18] Madrid,^[18] Barcelona,^[18] Berlin^[18] and London.^[18] The protest movement was the culmination of long-standing grievances against endemic corruption and state capture, particularly associated with prime minister Boyko Borisov's governments, in power since 2009.

Snap parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 11 July 2021 after no party was able or willing to form a government following the April 2021 elections.^[19] The populist party There Is Such a People (ITN), led by musician and television host Slavi Trifonov, narrowly won the most seats over a coalition of the conservative GERB and Union of Democratic Forces parties. ITN's success was propelled primarily by young voters.

The 2022 Bulgarian parliamentary election was won by the conservative GERB with 25.3% of the vote. We Continue the Change (PP) came in second with 20.2% of the vote. Support for the far-right and ultranationalist Revival party significantly increased from 4.9% to 10.2%. It was the country's fourth general election in two years, after the collapse of the government led by Kiril Petkov in June.^[20][21]

In the 2020 Croatian parliamentary election, the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) emerged as the winner, securing the most seats in the parliament. The HDZ, led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, won 66 out of 151 seats in the Croatian Parliament, solidifying its position as the ruling party. The Social Democratic Party (SDP), the main opposition, trailed behind with 41 seats. Turnout was lower than in the last election, 46.3 percent compared to 52.6 percent in 2016.^[22] Following the election, the HDZ successfully negotiated a coalition with smaller parties, including the Croatian People's Party (HNS), ensuring a parliamentary majority. The election addressed national issues, including economic recovery, healthcare reform, anti-corruption measures, and responses to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[23]

In the 2021 Czech parliamentary election voters elected the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. The three-party, center-right SPOLU coalition narrowly won the election with 27.8% of the vote. The populist ANO party of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš suffered a surprise defeat with 27.1% of the vote.^[24] The liberal Pirates and Mayors (PirStan) electoral coalition came third with 15.6%. Right-wing Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) came fourth with 9.5%. The Social Democrats and the Communists, two of the ANO-led coalition government partners failed to reach the 5 percent threshold required to enter parliament.^[25] After the results, SPOLU and PirStan signed a memorandum to form a coalition government with Petr Fiala as prime minister.^[26]

In the 2023 Czech presidential election, retired general Petr Pavel defeated former prime minister and businessman Andrej Babiš with over 58% of the popular vote in the second round.^[27] Petr Pavel, former chair of the NATO Military Committee, ran as an independent on a pro-Western, pro-European platform, and was backed by the centre-right governing alliance Spolu.^[28] He won the first round of the election with 35.40% of the popular vote, ahead of Andrej Babiš, the former Czech prime minister running as the candidate of populist ANO 2011, who finished second with 34.99%.^[29] Voter turnout in the second round was a little above 70%, the highest in a direct Czech presidential election and the highest in any national Czech election since 1998.^[30][31]

The 2021 Cypriot legislative election was won by the Democratic Rally, a Christian-democratic party. The party won 27.77% of the popular vote, taking 17 seats in the parliament and remaining the party with the largest representation.^[32] The left-wing Progressive Party of Working People came in second place with 22.34% of the vote and 15 seats in parliament. ELAM, an anti-migrant nationalist party, almost doubled its vote share compared to the 2016 election to about 6.8% of the vote, placing it fourth in voter preferences.^[33]

In the 2023 Cypriot presidential election, centrist Nikos Christodoulides was elected President of Cyprus with 51.97% of the vote against left-wing Andreas Mavroyiannis with 48.03% on the second round.^[34]

In the 2022 Danish general election, the governing Social Democrats achieved their best result in 20 years, with 28% of the vote. Leading opposition party Venstre suffered major losses in the election, losing 20 seats in parliament. Two new parties standing in the elections, the Moderates and the Denmark Democrats, won 16 and 14 seats respectively, making them the third- and fifth-largest parties. The Social Liberals experienced one of their worst ever results with 7 seats in parliament from 16 in the last election.^[35] After negotiations, a coalition government composed of the Social Democrats, Venstre and the Moderates was formed, the first time since 1977 where both main parties were part of a coalition government.^[36]

Kaja Kallas became the first female prime minister after the previous government fell after a corruption scandal.^[37]

In the 2023 Estonian parliamentary election incumbent Prime Minister Kaja Kallas' center-right Reform Party was the clear winner with 31.2% of the vote and 37 seats in the Riigikogu.^[38] In second place, the right-wing eurosceptic EKRE party won 16.1 percent of the vote. Support for the Centre Party, traditionally supported by Estonia's ethnic-Russian minority, fell to 14.7 percent from 23.1 percent in the last election.^[39] The biggest surprise of the election was the emergence of Estonia 200, a centrist liberal pro-EU party and a parliament newcomer following the election. It won 13.3% of the vote and 14 seats in the Riigikogu.^[40]

The murder of Samuel Paty reignited the controversy surrounding depictions of Muhammad, and was followed by the 2020 Nice stabbing committed by another jihadist, as well as a far-right attack in Avignon on the same day.^[41] Before the attacks, the Charlie Hebdo depiction had been republished on September 1, and the trial over the Charlie Hebdo shooting in 2015 had begun on September 2.^[42] There had also been a second attack on Charlie Hebdo's former headquarters in Paris on September 25, and on October 2, President Emmanuel Macron had called Islam a 'religion in crisis'.^[42] Following Macron's remarks, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggested he needed "mental treatment", leading France to withdraw its ambassador.^[43] Saudi Arabia and Iran condemned France, while tens of thousands marched against in protest in Bangladesh.^[44] The French government demanded that the representative body for the religion in the country accept a 'charter of republican values', rejecting political Islam and foreign interference, as well as establishing a system of official licenses for imams.^[45] Overseas, the French military intervention in the Sahel continued fighting against the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.^[46]

On 17 September 2021, Macron and his foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian recalled the French ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia after the formation of the AUKUS defense technology between the U.S., Australia, and UK (from which France was excluded). As part of the 2021 security agreement, the U.S. decided to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, to counter China in the Pacific and Indo-Pacific region, and Australia canceled a US$66 billion (A$billion) deal from 2016 to purchase twelve French-built conventionally powered (diesel) submarines.^[47][48][49] The French government was furious at the cancellation of the submarine agreement and said that it had been blindsided, calling the decision a 'stab in the back'.^[47][48][49] On September 22, Biden and Macron pledged to improve the relationship between the two countries.^[50]

In the 2022 French presidential election, Emmanuel Macron was re-elected as the president of France, the first sitting French president to have been so in 20 years. In the second round of voting, Macron, a centrist, secured 58.5% of the vote over the nationalist-populist Marine Le Pen.^[51][52]

In the first round of voting, Macron led by a margin of about four percentage points over Le Pen. In the first round of the 2017 election, Macron was ahead of Le Pen by just three percentage points. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon came in third, less than half a million votes from Marine Le Pen. Far-right polemicist Eric Zemmour came in fourth. Right-wing candidate Valerie Pecresse and green candidate Yannick Jadot each finished with less than 5% of the votes.^[53]

The results of the first round showed a significant geographical divide between the three leading candidates. The incumbent, Emmanuel Macron's support was the strongest in large, affluent cities such as Toulouse and Paris, in addition to the west of France. Le Pen's strongest showings were in the post-industrial northeast, the south, and rural areas more broadly. Mélenchon's heartlands were in less prosperous suburbs around Paris, but otherwise he had relative success across the country.^[54]

Thousands of people across France came to the streets in October 2022, launching a statewide strike against the rise in the cost of living. The demonstrations were described by Reuters as the "stiffest challenge" for Emmanuel Macron since his re-election in May 2022.^[55] In March 2023, the French government used Article 49.3 of the constitution to force a pension reform bill, which would increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 years, through the French Parliament, sparking protests and two failed no confidence votes.

A further series of civil disturbances in France began on 27 June 2023 following the killing of Nahel Merzouk by a police officer in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. Residents started a protest outside the police headquarters on 27 June, which later escalated into a riot as demonstrators set cars alight, destroyed bus stops, and shot fireworks at police.^[56] By 29 June, over 150 people had been arrested,^[57] 24 officers had been injured, and 40 cars had been torched.^[58][59] Fearing greater unrest, Gérald Darmanin, Interior Minister of France, deployed 1,200 riot police and gendarmes in and around Paris, later adding an additional 2,000.

^[60][58][59]

The government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin fell following the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election.^[61] after her center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) was narrowly defeated into third place in the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election by conservative and far-right challengers. The pro-business NCP gained 48 of the 200 parliamentary seats, narrowly defeating Marin's Social Democrats with 43 seats and the nationalist Finns Party with 46 seats.^[62]

Following the election, a new right wing coalition government was formed by Petteri Orpo.^[63] with the Finns Party and two additional small parties: the Swedish People's Party and the Christian Democrats.^[64]

The 2021 German federal election made significant shifts in the German political landscape. With 25.7% of total votes, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) recorded their best result since 2005, and emerged as the largest party for the first time since 2002. The ruling CDU/CSU, which had led a grand coalition with the SPD since 2013, recorded their worst ever result with 24.1%, a significant decline from 32.9% in 2017. Alliance 90/The Greens achieved their best result in history at 14.8%, while the Free Democratic Party (FDP) made small gains and finished on 11.5%. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) fell from third to fifth place with 10.3%, a decline of 2.3 percentage points. The Left suffered their worst showing since their official formation in 2007, failing to cross the 5% electoral threshold by just over one-tenth of a percentage point. Nevertheless, the party was entitled to full proportional representation due to the fact that it won three direct constituencies.^[65][66]

In terms of geographical distribution, the SPD made the most consequential gains in eastern Germany in addition to increasing their vote share in their traditional heartlands in the Rhineland and the northwest. Despite losing ground overall, the AfD made some gains in Thuringia and other parts of the east. The CDU saw its vote share almost everywhere, but their partner party in Bavaria, the CSU, proved slightly more resilient. In the east, Die Linke suffered big declines in Brandenburg and eastern Berlin. ^[67]

With a fifth grand coalition being dismissed by both the CDU/CSU and the SPD, the FDP and the Greens were considered kingmakers. On 23 November, following complex coalition talks, the SPD, FDP and Greens formalized an agreement to form a traffic light coalition, which was approved by all three parties. Olaf Scholz and his cabinet were elected by the Bundestag on 8 December.^[68]

Following a surge of migrant arrivals from Turkey, Greece suspended all asylum applications in March 2020.^[69] The freeze was lifted a month later.^[70]

The 2021 Greek protests broke out in response to a proposed government bill that would allow police presence on university campuses for the first time in decades.

At the June parliamentary elections in 2023, the main center-right party in Greece, incumbent New Democracy performed strongly by securing an absolute majority. The political left struggled with the main opposition Syriza losing more than 20 seats and far-right minor parties like Victory and Spartans entered parliament for the first time, giving the Greek parliament its strongest rightward tilt since the restoration of democracy in 1974.^[71][72]

Under the new voting system, which grants the winning party 50 additional seats, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy party was able to increase its double-digit advantage over its main challenger, the left-wing Syriza party, and win 158 seats in the 300-seat legislature.^[73][74] Four minor new parties, mainly from the far right, succeeded in surpassing the 3 percent requirement to enter parliament.^[75]

At the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary election voters elected the 199 members of Hungary's National Assembly. Viktor Orbán's right-wing Fidesz party won a fourth consecutive term, consolidating a super majority in the Assembly by gaining over two-thirds of seats. The scale of his victory shocked his opponents, who had united to challenge him as the United Opposition.^[76]

During the 2021 Italian government crisis, the Conte II Cabinet fell after Matteo Renzi, leader of Italia Viva (IV) and former Prime Minister, that he would revoke IV's support to the government of Giuseppe Conte.^[77] On 18 and 19 January, Renzi's party abstained and the government won the key confidence votes in the Chamber and in the Senate, but it failed in reaching an absolute majority in the Senate.^[78] On 26 January, Prime Minister Conte resigned from his office, prompting President Sergio Mattarella to start consultations for the formation of a new government. On 13 February, Mario Draghi was sworn in as prime minister, leading to the Draghi Cabinet.^[79] During the 2022 Italian government crisis on 14 July, despite having largely won the confidence vote, Prime Minister Draghi offered his resignation, which was rejected by President Sergio Mattarella.^[80][81][82] On 21 July, Draghi resigned again after a new confidence vote in the Senate failed to pass with an absolute majority, following the defections of M5S, Lega, and Forza Italia;^[83][84][85] President Mattarella accepted Draghi's resignation and asked Draghi to remain in place to handle current affairs.^[86] A snap election was called for 25 September 2022.^[87]

The 2022 Italian presidential election was held in between 24 and 29 January 2022 and culminated in incumbent president Sergio Mattarella being confirmed for a second term, with a total of 759 votes out of 1009 on the eighth ballot.^[88] This was the second most votes ever received by a presidential candidate. Mattarella became the second president to be re-elected, his predecessor Giorgio Napolitano being the first. The president of Italy was elected by a joint assembly composed of the Italian Parliament and regional representatives. The election process extended over multiple days.^[89]

The 2022 Italian general election, which saw record-low voter turnout, was won by the centre-right coalition, headed by the Brothers of Italy party with their leader Giorgia Meloni.^[90] Meloni was sworn as Italy's first female prime minister as well as the furthest right wing leader of the country since Mussolini.^[91][92]

The 2020 Irish general election was called following the collapse of the Fine Gael-led minority government, led by Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, in January 2020. The election resulted in a historic win for the left-wing nacionalist Sinn Féin, making it the second largest party of the Dáil Éireann.^[93] The result was seen as a historic shift in Ireland's political landscape, effectively ending the two-party system of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.^[94] Sinn Féin secured the most first-preference votes, winning 37 seats. Fianna Fáil won 38 seats, and Fine Gael won 35 seats. The Green Party, which focused on environmental issues, increased its representation significantly from 2 seats to 12 seats in parliament.^[95] The reason for the electoral upset for these parties was believed to be in voter dissatisfaction on issues of health, housing and homelessness.^[96] On 27 June 2020, Micheál Martin was elected as Taoiseach, in an historic coalition agreement that saw his party Fianna Fáil go into government with the Green Party and Fianna Fáil's historical rivals, Fine Gael.^[97][98]

Triggered by the Government of Kosovo's decision to reciprocally ban Serbian license plates, a series of protests by Serbs in North Kosovo—consisting mostly of blocking traffic near border crossings— began on 20 September 2021. During the crisis, two government vehicle registration centers in Zvečan and Zubin Potok were targeted by arsonists. The protests caused relations between Serbia and Kosovo—which had been improving—to worsen, and led to the Serbian Armed Forces being placed on heightened alert. On 30 September, an agreement was reached to end the license plate ban, taking effect on 4 October. In return, the protesters agreed to disperse. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Kosovar license plates in Serbia and Serbian license plates in Kosovo had their national symbols and country codes covered with a temporary sticker.

Beginning on 31 July 2022, tensions between Serbia and Kosovo heightened again due to the expiration of the eleven-year validity period of documents for cars on 1 August 2022, between the government of Kosovo and the Serbs in North Kosovo. On 26 May 2023, Kosovo took control of the North Kosovo municipal buildings by force, to enable the newly elected ethnic Albanian mayors to physically assume office, as they had won the 23 April local elections – based on an extremely low number of votes, due to an election boycott by the Serb population. A civil disturbance occurred, and Serbia put its armed forces on alert. The decision of Kosovo to use force was condemned by the United States and the EU.

The 2022 Latvian parliamentary election resulted in a historic defeat of the centre-left Harmony party which lost all of its parliamentary seats after failing to surpass the electoral threshold of 5%.^[99] It traditionally represented Latvia's Russian minority and was the largest political group in Saeima since the 2011 Latvian parliamentary election. The New Unity party led by the incumbent Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš won the most votes.^[100] Kariņš subsequently formed a centre-right coalition with the United List and the National Alliance and was re-elected as prime minister for the second term.^[101]

On 31 May 2023, Edgars Rinkēvičs, Latvia's long-serving Minister of Foreign Affairs, was elected new President of Latvia, becoming the EU's first openly gay head of state.^[102] His candidacy was supported by his own party New Unity and two opposition parties – Union of Greens and Farmers and The Progressives. This undermined the stability of governing coalition and eventually resulted in the collapse of second Kariņš' cabinet on 14 August 2023.^[103]

On 15 September 2023, the Saeima approved the new government, headed by Evika Siliņa, a former lawyer who previously served as a Minister of Welfare.^[104] She became the second-ever female to hold the position of Prime Minister, following Laimdota Straujuma in 2014–2016. Her appointment also marked a historic moment, with all three Baltic states, including Estonia and Lithuania, being led by female prime ministers.^[105] The new coalition was labelled by some as the "first-ever centre-left" government since the restoration of independence in 1991.^[106] On 9 November 2023, the Saeima adopted amendments to eight laws envisaging the introduction of a new Partnership institution in Latvia which will grant cohabiting adults, including same-sex partnerships, a degree of legal recognition and protection, starting from 1 July 2024.^[107] The same month, the parliament ratified the Istanbul Convention.^[108]

In the Lithuanian parliamentary election of October 11, 2020, the Homeland Union, a center-right party, emerged as the largest party in the Seimas.^[109] Coalition negotiations ensued, leading to the formation of a new government under Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, which became the second-ever female Prime Minister of Lithuania in 2020.^[110] The coalition included the Homeland Union, the Liberal Movement, and the Freedom Party.^[111] The election, conducted amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, saw increased provisions for early and postal voting.^[112] Key campaign issues encompassed economic policies, healthcare, social welfare, and the nation's response to the ongoing health crisis.

In 2023 Luxembourg general election, the christian democrat CSV party remained the largest party in parliament with 21 seats, having won 29.2% of the vote. The Democratic Party (DP) and the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) remained the second and third largest parties in parliament, respectivelly. The Greens suffered a significant loss by winning just 4 seats compared with 9 in the last election.^[113] On 13 November Luc Frieden announced a coalition agreement between the CSV and DP. The new cabinet was sworn in by the Grand Duke and Frieden assumed the office of Prime Minister on 17 November.^[114]

The 2020 Montenegrin parliamentary election resulted in a victory for the opposition parties and the fall from power of the ruling DPS, which had ruled the country since the introduction of the multi-party system in 1990. On 31 August, the leaders of three opposition coalitions, For the Future of Montenegro, Peace is Our Nation and In Black and White, agreed to form an expert government, and to continue to work on the European Union accession process. The period before the election was marked by the high polarization of the electorate. Several corruption scandals of the ruling party triggered 2019 anti-government protests, while a controversial religion law sparked another wave of protests.

In April 2021, a wave of protests, dubbed by its organizers as the Montenegrin Spring,^[115][116] or the Montenegrin Response/Montenegrin Answer^{[117][118][119]} was launched in Montenegro against the announced adoption of regulations that will make it easier to acquire Montenegrin citizenship, but also take away the citizenship of some Montenegrin emigrants, which the protesters consider as an "attempt of the government to change the ethnic structure of Montenegro" and against the newly formed technocratic government of Montenegro, which the protesters accuse of being "treacherous" and the "satellite of Serbia".^[120]

The 2021 Montenegrin episcopal enthronement protests are a series of violent protests against the installation (enthronement) of Joanikije Mićović of the Serbian Orthodox Church as the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral that took place at the historic Cetinje Monastery on 5 September 2021. Following the enthronement, by mid-September 2021, divisions within the Krivokapić Cabinet led some of the ruling coalition members such as the Democratic Front and Democratic Montenegro to demand that the government be reconstructed or a snap election be held.^[121]

On 7 August 2020, a protest against the arrest of LGBT activist Margot led to a confrontation with police in central Warsaw and resulted in the arrest of 47 others, some of whom were peacefully protesting and others who were bystanders to the event, dubbed "Polish Stonewall" in an analogy to the 1969 Stonewall riots.

The October–December 2020 Polish protests, commonly known as the Women's Strike (Polish: Strajk Kobiet)^{[citation needed]}, are the ongoing anti-government demonstrations and protests in Poland that began on 22 October 2020, in reaction to a ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal, mainly consisting of judges who were appointed by the ruling Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) dominated United Right, which tightened the law on abortion in Poland. The ruling made almost all cases of abortion illegal, including those cases in which the foetus had a severe and permanent disability, or an incurable and life-threatening disease.^[122][123] It was the biggest protest in the country since the end of the People's Republic during the revolutions of 1989.^[124][125]

The 2020 Polish presidential election resulted in the re-election bid of incumbent president Andrzej Duda, a member of the Law and Justice party. In the first round, held on June 28, Duda emerged as the leading candidate with 43.5% of the vote. Without a majority of 50% of the vote, a runoff was set against Rafał Trzaskowski from the Civic Coalition. In the second round of the election, on July 12, Duda secured a narrow victory with approximately 51% of the vote to Trzaskowski's 49% share of the vote.^[126]

The campaign was marked by debates on judicial reforms, LGBTQ+ rights, and Poland's role in the European Union. Amid tensions with the EU, the election had broad implications for the nation's political landscape. Taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic, the election featured adjusted voting procedures, including increased options for postal voting.^[127]

In the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, Law and Justice returned as the largest party, but without the ability to form a winning coalition in the Sejm, 460-member lower house of parliament. The final results which registered a record turnout of 74.4 percent had the incumbent right-wing Law and Justice with 35.4 percent, followed by the centrist Civic Coalition at 30.7 percent, the center-right Third Way at 14.4 percent, the Left with 8.6 percent and the far-right Confederation with 7.2 percent. ^[128][129]

Before the election, Civic Coalition, led by former prime minister and European Council President Donald Tusk, the Third Way and the Left pledged to form a coalition government to oust Law and Justice from power.^[130] After the election, together they won 248 seats in the Sejm, enough seats to take power from the Law and Justice. The coalition between these three parties also boosted its control of the less powerful upper chamber Senate, winning 66 seats while Law and Justice won just 34.^[131]

Following the election, Poland's parliament elected centrist party leader Donald Tusk as prime minister, allowing the formation of a new pro-EU government after eight years of national conservative rule in Poland. The outgoing right-wing populist Law and Justice government was characterized by various disputes with the EU over issues like judicial independence, the rule of law and minority rights which resulted in billions in funds from the bloc being frozen.^[132]

Portugal's center-right president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, won a second five-year term with around 61 percent of the vote. In unprecedented circumstances, the 2021 presidential election was held less than two weeks after the Portuguese government had placed the nation under lockdown.^[133] The results indicated that André Ventura, a far-right, ultranationalist candidate, received close to 12 percent of the vote, while the socialist candidate, Ana Gomes, received nearly 13 percent of the vote.^[134]

The 2022 portuguese legislative elections were called when two far-left parties that had supported Antonio Costa's minority government allied with right-wing parties in October to reject his draft budget for 2022.^[135] In the election, contrary to expectations, Portugal's ruling center-left Socialist Party secured an absolute parliamentary majority in the snap general election, giving Antonio Costa a solid new mandate as prime minister.^[136] The centre-right Social Democrats finished far behind the Socialist Party, who received roughly 42% of the vote, with less than 30% of the vote.^[137] As the third-largest legislative force, the far-right party Chega increased substantially from having just one seat in the previous legislative cycle to at 12. Turnout did surpass the previous year's record low of 49%.^[138]

On 7 November 2023, Prime Minister António Costa submitted his official resignation which was accepted by the President on the same day.^[139] The prime minister's resignation came after Portugal's national police executed searches of Costa's residence and various government ministry buildings. The sweeps were a part of a corruption probe related to lithium mining projects in the north of Portugal in addition to a green hydrogen production mega-project in Sines. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa decided to dissolve parliament and call new elections on 10 March 2024.^[140] Costa's government remains in office in a caretaker capacity until a new government is sworn in following the elections.^[141]

A political crisis began in Romania on 1 September 2021 engulfing both major coalition partners of the Cîțu Cabinet, namely the conservative-liberal National Liberal Party (PNL) and the progressive-liberal Save Romania Union (USR), then USR PLUS.^[142] The crisis was sparked by disagreements over the so-called Anghel Saligny investment program meant to develop Romanian settlements,^[143] which was supported by Prime Minister Cîțu but was severely criticized by USR PLUS (referring to it as a "brand new OUG 13 abuse")^[144][145] whose ministers boycotted a government meeting.^[143] In response, Prime Minister Cîțu sacked Justice Minister Stelian Ion (USR)^[146] and named Interior Minister Lucian Bode (PNL) as interim, igniting a crisis.^[147][148] In retaliation, USR PLUS submitted a motion of no confidence (also known as a motion of censure) against the Cîțu Cabinet together with the nationalist opposition party Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR)^[149][150] and by 7 September, all USR PLUS ministers resigned on their own.^[151] Negotiations between PSD, PNL and UDMR for a new majority took place throughout most of November 2021, after which Ciucă was designated again by Iohannis as prime minister on 22 November. The crisis finally ended on 25 November, with the Ciucă Cabinet taking office.

The entire Russian cabinet resigned in January 2020, with a new Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin soon sworn in.^[152] Following this, a constitutional referendum was held in Russia in 2020.^[153] The draft amendments to the Constitution were submitted to a referendum in accordance with article 2 of the Law on Amendments to the Constitution.^[154] The referendum was criticized for extending the rule of Vladimir Putin, as well as for not following the normal rules for referendums in Russia (by being labelled an "all-Russian vote" instead).^[155][156]

The anti-corruption activist and politician Alexei Navalny was the target of an attempted assassination by the Russian Federal Security Service, whose members involved in the attempt he exposed together with the investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat.^[157] Following his return to Russia, he was arrested and immediately placed in pre-trial detention.^[158] This, and the release of his film A Palace for Putin, led to the 2021 Russian protests. Navalny was ultimately sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a penal colony.^[159] A court ordered the Anti-Corruption Foundation, linked to Navalny, to cease its activities.^[160]

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, daily anti-war demonstrations and protests broke out across Russia.^[161] The protests have been met with widespread repression by the Russian authorities, with over 8,000 arrests being made^{[162][163][164]} from 24 February to 4 March.^{[165][166][167]} By 27 February, 4,000 scientists and science journalists, 6,200 medics, 5,000 architects and 6,700 artists in Russia had signed electronic petitions against the invasion.^[168] On 6 March, the monitoring group OVD-Info reported over 5,000 arrests throughout the day,^[169][170] bringing the total number of arrests since the start to over 12,000.

On 26 February 2022, Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, ordered independent media outlets to take down reports that described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an "assault, invasion, or declaration of war", otherwise fines and blocks would be issued.^[171] From 1 March, Russian schools started war-themed social studies classes for teenagers based on the Russian government's position on history; one teaching manual (publicized by independent media outlet MediaZona) for such classes asserted that "genocide" had been occurring in eastern Ukraine for eight years, and that Russia in this case was responding with a "special peacekeeping operation" in Ukraine, which was "not a war".^[172] On 22 February 2023 the monitoring group OVD-Info reported that there was almost 20,000 arrests due to anti-war position and protests.^[173] Also by 15 April 2023 they report that in Russia there are 528 being persecuted under criminal law.^[174]

On 23 June 2023, the Wagner Group, a Russian government-funded paramilitary and private military company, staged a rebellion. The rebellion occurred after a period of increasing tensions between the Russian Ministry of Defence and the leader of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin. At least thirteen servicemen of the Russian military were killed during the rebellion. On the rebels' side, several Wagner members were reported injured and two military defectors were killed according to Prigozhin.^[175] While Prigozhin was supportive of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,^[176] he had previously publicly criticized Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, blaming them for the country's military shortcomings and accusing them of handing over "Russian territories" to Ukraine.^[177] Prigozhin portrayed the rebellion as a response to an alleged attack on his forces by the ministry, and demanded that Shoigu and Gerasimov be turned over to him.^[178] In a televised address on 24 June, Russian president Vladimir Putin denounced Wagner's actions as treason and pledged to quell the rebellion.

Prigozhin's forces took control of Rostov-on-Don and the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city. An armored column of Wagner troops advanced through Voronezh Oblast towards Moscow. Armed with mobile anti-aircraft systems, the rebels repelled the air attacks of the Russian military, whose actions did not deter the progress of the column. Ground defenses were concentrated on the approach to Moscow. Before Wagner reached the defenses, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko brokered a settlement with Prigozhin, who agreed to end the rebellion. On the late evening of 24 June, Wagner forces turned around, and those that had remained in Rostov-on-Don began withdrawing. As per the agreement, the Federal Security Service, which had initiated a case for armed rebellion under Article 279 of the Criminal Code closed the case on 27 June 2023, dropping the charges.

An Embraer Legacy 600 crashed near Kuzhenkino in Tver Oblast, approximately 100 kilometres north of its departure point in Moscow, on 25 August 2023. Among the ten victims were Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, key figures associated with the Wagner Group, a Russian state-funded private military company.^{[179][180][181][182]} The circumstances of the crash led to widespread speculation and numerous theories, with many pointing to political motivations and possible involvement of powerful entities in Russia. While official Russian sources downplayed the incident, many observers, including international leaders, implied or openly suggested that the crash was a politically motivated assassination.

On 7 July 2020, a series of protests and riots began over the government announcement of the reimplementation of the curfew and the government's allegedly poor handling of the COVID-19 situation, as well as being a partial continuation of the "One of Five Million" movement. The initial demand of the protesters had been to cancel the planned reintroduction of curfew in Serbia during July, which was successfully achieved in less than 48 hours of the protest.^[183] Among other causes, the protests were driven by the crisis of democratic institutions under Aleksandar Vučić's rule and the growing concern that the President is concentrating all powers in his hands at the expense of the parliament.^[184]

In the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election, the left-wing populist, social conservative and Pro-Russia, Smer-SD (Direction – Social Democracy), led by former Prime Minister Robert Fico, emerged as the largest party, winning 42 seats. The social-liberal and pro-European, PS (Progressive Slovakia) came in second, with 32 seats. Former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini's social-democratic, Hlas-SD (Voice – Social Democracy), which split from Smer-SD in 2020, came in third with 27 seats, making Pellegrini the kingmaker in government formation negotiations.^[185] On 11 October, Smer-SD, Hlas-SD, and ultranationalist SNS ratified their coalition agreement, according to which they were to receive 6, 7, and 3 ministerial portfolios, respectively.^[186]

A series of protests broke out after the formation of Janez Janša's government in early 2020, with protestors demanding Janša's resignation and early elections.^[187] Janša was accused of eroding freedom of media since assuming office. According to a report by International Press Institute Slovenia experienced a swift downturn in media and press freedom. IPI accused Janša of creating a hostile environment for journalists by his tweets, which IPI described as "vitriolic attacks".^[188][189] He was also accused of usurping power and corruption and compared to Viktor Orbán.^[190][191] In the 2022 Slovenian parliamentary election, the Freedom Movement led by Robert Golob won 41 seats in its first election. It had campaigned on a transition to green energy, an open society and the rule of law. It won the highest number of seats for a single party in the elections since the independence of Slovenia.

A government crisis started on 21 June 2021 in Sweden after the Riksdag ousted Prime Minister Stefan Löfven with a no-confidence vote.^[192][193] This was the first time in Swedish history a Prime Minister was ousted by a no-confidence vote.^[194][195] Löfven was narrowly re-elected to stay in power later.^[196] In November, the Riksdag voted for Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson to become the first female prime minister of Sweden. However, Andersson resigned several hours later, after the Green Party quit the coalition because the opposition budget was approved by the Riksdag.^[197][198] Andersson took office several days later after a confirmation vote in the Riksdag.^[199]

The 2022 Swedish general election saw Andersson's government lose its majority, with the Sweden Democrats becoming the second-largest party.^[200] Overall the right-leaning bloc won a majority of seats, with Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson widely expected to become prime minister.^[201]

Under Boris Johnson's government, the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020; trade deal negotiations continued to within days of the scheduled end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 CET. The effects of Brexit will in part be determined by the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement which was agreed on 24 December 2020 and ratified by the UK Parliament on 30 December 2020 and was "provisionally" applied by the EU from 31 December 2020.^[209]

Loyalists and unionists argued that post-Brexit trading arrangements have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.^[210] The Loyalist Communities Council, which represents paramilitary groups including the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association withdrew their support for the Good Friday Agreement (which brought to an end The Troubles) until the sea border is removed.^[211] A series of riots in loyalist areas of Northern Ireland began in Waterside, Derry, on 30 March 2021. First Minister Arlene Foster announced her resignation after losing the support of her Democratic Unionist Party in the aftermath of the riots.^[212]

Since mid-2021, Johnson's premiership had been impacted by controversies over Johnson's actions relating to Owen Paterson's lobbying and the Partygate scandal. These, combined with impacts on electoral performance, led to the ruling Conservative Party holding a vote of confidence in Johnson's leadership in June 2022, which he won, although he was politically weakened.^[213] After previously saying he would remain as Conservative Party leader to see through the party's manifesto pledges, Johnson announced on 7 July that he would resign as leader but remain as prime minister in a caretaker capacity until a new party leader was elected, with the results of the Conservative Party leadership election being released on 5 September 2022.^{[214][215][216]} On 5 September, Liz Truss was elected leader of the Conservative Party and succeeded Johnson as prime minister on 6 September 2022.

Truss resigned as leader of the Conservative Party on 20 October 2022, which would make her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history following the September mini-budget, which was received negatively by the world financial markets. It ultimately led to the dismissal of the chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, on 14 October, and his replacement by Jeremy Hunt. In the following days Truss came under increasing pressure to reverse further elements of the mini-budget to satisfy the markets, and by 17 October five Conservative members of parliament had called for her resignation.

Rishi Sunak stood in the Conservative party leadership election to replace Johnson,^[217] and lost the members' vote to Liz Truss.^[218] After Truss's resignation amid a credibility crisis, Sunak was elected unopposed as Leader of the Conservative Party. He was appointed prime minister by King Charles III on 25 October 2022, becoming the first British Asian and Hindu to hold that position.^{[219][220][221]}

In the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Sinn Féin became the largest party, marking the first time an election in Northern Ireland has resulted in a nationalist party winning the most seats, and thus has the right to nominate Northern Ireland's first nationalist First Minister.

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