Italians will head to the polls today to vote for parliament in an election that is as anticipated by the rest of the world as it seems dreaded by Italians. The election will be the first test of a new election law meant to provide for more proportional representation, which combines “first past the post” (or “winner takes all”) voting for 36% of seats with … Continue reading Where the Italian Parties Stand on Immigration and Asylum
On Friday and Saturday, voters will head to the polls in the Czech Republic for a presidential runoff vote between incumbent Miloš Zeman and his competitor, Jiří Drahoš. The polls are very close, with Czeska Televisa 24 / MF Dnes reporting a slight lead for Drahos with 47 percent of the vote to Zeman’s 43 percent, with ten percent still undecided. In Czech, the president appoints the prime … Continue reading Can the Czech Runoff Election Impact the Country’s Stance on Migration?
A record 209 days after their parliamentary elections, four Dutch parties have formed a coalition for a majority government that will lead by a single seat. Mark Rutte‘s center-right VVD, Democrats D66, Christian Democrats CDA, and the conservative Christian Union (CU) have hammered out a fragile accord that will lead the Netherlands into the so-called “Rutte III” era. Coalition talks initially included the environmental leftists Groenlinks, but … Continue reading “Rutte III” promises restrictive changes to Dutch asylum system
Germany’s Bundestag elections are quickly approaching and while many are presenting the outcome as a foregone win for the indefatigable Angela Merkel of the CDU, with nearly half of voters undecided it’s still possible that there are some surprises in store. The only thing that’s for sure? Hardly anyone has read through all the long and jargon-packed campaign platforms that parties have published to present their … Continue reading German Elections: Where do the parties stand on asylum, immigration and integration?
Dutch coalition talks have come to a halt over disagreements on migration, infomateur Edith Schippers announced Monday. The Dutch election took place over two months ago, but coalition talks are still underway, (which isn’t unusual for the Netherlands). At the time, we pointed out that it was going to be a tremendous uphill battle to make changes to asylum and immigration because of a few … Continue reading Dutch coalition talks collapse over differences on immigration
After lots of excitement in the final weeks leading up to the French election, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will proceed to the runoff, a result that was widely predicted and yet produced significant surprise when it actually came to be, given the current distrust in the accuracy of polls. When it comes to immigration, the differences between the top two candidates are significant, although … Continue reading Macron v. Le Pen on Immigration, Asylum and Integration
By Christian Jorgensen Cover image: Photo: Nico Trinkhaus – Royal Way, Prague, Czech Republic Per a poll by the Center for Public Opinion Research (CVVM) released earlier this spring, 61% of Czech citizens are against accepting any additional refugees into the Czech Republic. The same CVVM poll also showed that 73% of Czech citizens find refugees to be a major security threat to the Czech Republic, … Continue reading Will Fear of Refugees Become the Status Quo in Czech Politics?
By Christian Jorgensen Leading French presidential candidate for the far-right Front National party Marine Le Pen is running on a platform that she says will “free France”, and she has made 144-commitments that she promises will do just that. There are three that revolve around the topics of citizenship and asylum that deserve a closer look into what their impact on migrants and policy could be. … Continue reading Le Pen’s Promises on Citizenship and Asylum: A Closer Look
