Policy Dialogue with :
Beáta Bakó
Re:Constitution Fellow, CEU Democracy Institute ; Senior Researcher, Law Faculty of Charles University (Prague)
Nikola Burazer
Programme Director, Centre for Contemporary Politics ; Executive Editor, European Western Balkans
Marko Lovec
Associate Professor, University of Ljubljana
Susi Dennison
Director of the European Power programme, European Council on Foreign Relations
Corina Stratulat
Senior Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre (Moderator)
In April 2022, a number of important presidential and parliamentary elections took place across Europe. With the landslide victories of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, two far-right political leaders were re-elected, despite active opposition campaigns. On 24 April, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša and French President Emmanuel Macron also hoped for re-election. These elections resulted in Janša being ousted, losing his position to a liberal challenger, while Macron managed once again to defend his presidency against the far-right, despite growing Euroscepticism in France.
In each election, populist leaders and parties played leading roles as either incumbent or antagonist, often with strong support from the general population. How has populism in Europe evolved in recent years ? What do these national results mean on the domestic and European levels ? How could these populist victories or losses change the course of the Union and its neighbours in the foreseeable future ? How did populist candidates position themselves toward Russia’s war in Ukraine ?
