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
By Klaudia Wegschaider In a few days, on October 15, Austria will elect its new parliament. And unlike in the recent German election, it is uncertain who will be the next Chancellor and which parties will form the future governing coalition. Currently, Austria is headed by a coalition between the Social Democratic Party and the People’s Party. In the run-up to the election, however, disputes … Continue reading Austrian Elections: Where do the parties stand on asylum, immigration and integration?
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In European migration politics, the governments of the so-called “Visegrad Group” or V4 – Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia– have set themselves apart with their consistently strong stance against EU refugee policy over the past few years. The four strongly oppose a quota distribution system collectively and take a harsh tone against both Brussels’ migration policy and people seeking asylum in their national media. … Continue reading Sympathy for the Visegrad Group? A look at the V4’s migration proposals
Following an approved motion by British Prime Minister Theresa May, the UK will hold snap general elections on June 8th. Under Britain’s Fixed Term Parliaments Act, elections are held every five years unless a snap election occurs through either a vote of no confidence with no follow-up government installed or the approval of a motion for snap elections by two-thirds of parliament, as occurred in this … Continue reading Comparing the Labour and Conservative Manifestos on Migration
On Sunday, regional elections were held in North Rhein-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen or NRW in German) and the results were striking for two reasons. First, the center-left Social Democratic party fell significantly in comparison to 2012, from 39% to 31% in Germany’s largest state (as measured by Infratest Dimap below). Their national government partners the Christian Democrats (CDU) outperformed them, in the latest test of the appeal … Continue reading With AfD back on the rise, MV takes a closer look at their new leaders. Part 1: Alexander Gauland
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
US White House press secretary Sean Spicer has been the target of a media firestorm since his unfortunate remarks at a press briefing last week comparing Assad to Hitler, with Hitler coming out favorably. “We didn’t use chemical weapons in World War Two. You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons”…. “I think when you come to sarin … Continue reading Holocaust revisionist ‘gaffes’ hide policies that target both Jews and Muslims
With elections around the corner, we’ve summed up the standpoints of the top French candidates on migration and asylum. Continue reading Unsubmissive, apolitical, revolutionary: the diverse migration views of the French presidential candidates
One of the unusual features of the Dutch electoral system is the large number of parties and multiple possibilities for coalitions. When it comes to refugee politics, a very hot issue in the upcoming race, the parties are all over the map and range from very strict on refugees- saying the Netherlands should not take a single one- to very welcoming, saying refugees should be … Continue reading Where do the Dutch parties stand on refugees?
