The candidate makes all the difference; the CDU finds itself outside parliament for the first time the Greens secure their place in the state parliament and are highly likely to become a governing party. The AfD becomes the strongest force and the sole opposition party.

The European Commission suggests a new electrification target, doubling the share of electrons in the EU final energy consumption by the year 2040. Can it energise a common EU energy policy again to prevent fossil fuel price hikes and combat the climate crisis?

For several weeks, the contentious legacy of the so-called Beneš Decrees has once again surged to the forefront of political discourse in Slovakia and neighbouring Hungary. A legislative amendment proposed by the Fico government—which prohibits any questioning ofthe post-war expulsion of ethnic Hungarians and the confiscation of their property from legal challenge—has created a significant rift between these two EU allies. This resurgence of historical grievance comes at a sensitive political juncture, with the potential to become a volatile wildcard in Hungary’s parliamentary elections this April and Slovakia’s own polls next year.