When Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced in July that he was stepping down and leaving politics, he unleashed a chain reaction of resignations and political realignments in the Netherlands. The transition to the post-Rutte era has upended the national political landscape, opening the way for a new generation of leaders.
Western Europe
The surge of support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party to over 20 percent in recent polls has led to growing concern over the future of democracy in Germany. Yet even as momentum builds for the AfD, a far-left movement is more quietly preparing their own campaigns to dismantle the country’s political status quo.
In March, the latest chapter was written in a political and legal controversy between Italy and France that dates back to the 1980s. But while a verdict from France’s highest criminal court caps a four-decade-long saga that began during Italy’s “years of lead,” it fails to resolve the tensions at the heart of those events.