Elections in Europe: 2023
Scientific Council
Prof. Dr. Sylvia Kritzinger, Prof. Dr. Marc Swyngedouw, Prof. Dr. Michal Kubát, Prof. Dr. Marc Debus, Prof. Dr. Rune Stubager, Prof. Dr. Piret Ehin, Prof. Dr. Irene Martín Cortés, Prof. Dr. Hanna Wass, Prof. Dr. Bruno Cautrès, Prof. Dr. Pierre Martin, Dr. Florent Parmentier, Prof. Dr. Theodore Chadjipandelis, Prof. Dr. Goran Čular, Prof. Dr. Gábor Tóka, Dr. Lorenzo Castellani, Prof. Dr. Diego Garzia, Prof. Dr. Ainė Ramonaitė, Prof. Dr. Philippe Poirier, Prof. Dr. Jānis Ikstens, Prof. Dr. Mark Harwood, Prof. Dr. Jacek Wojnicki, Prof. Dr. Marina Costa Lobo, Dr. Sorina Cristina Soare, Prof. Dr. Maria Oskarson, Prof. Dr. Alenka Krašovec, Prof. Dr. Olga Gyárfášova, Prof. Dr. Arjan Schakel
Directors of Publication
Ramona Bloj, Gilles Gressani
Editor-in-Chief
François Hublet
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Nicolas Leron
Editorial team
Jean-Toussaint Battestini, Jean Cotte, Adrian Fraus, Charlotte Kleine, Mattéo Lanoë, Sofia Marini, Johanna Schleyer
Elections in the European Union
Presidential election in the Czech Republic, 13-14 January 2023
Introduction The 2023 Czech presidential election occurred at a time of political tension and societal fatigue caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. From a domestic political perspective, the election, which took place approximately one and a half years after the narrow defeat of populist forces in the 2021 parliamentary vote, was … Continued
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Regional elections in Lower Austria, 29 January 2023
The history of a provincial election Lower Austria is not the most well-known part of Austria, but its largest Bundesland by area and its second most populous after the capital of Vienna. With the proclamation of the First Republic in 1918, Lower Austria became a federated entity within a greatly reduced Austrian state struggling with … Continued
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Presidential election in Cyprus, 5 and 12 February 2023
On 5 and 12 February 2023, Cypriot voters went to the polls to elect the eighth president in the history of the Republic of Cyprus. The Constitution of the Republic provides for a clear separation of powers. The executive power is exercised by the president, who appoints the cabinet and is not accountable to parliament. … Continued
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Regional election in Berlin, 12 February 2023
Introduction On November 16th 2022, the Berlin State Constitutional Court (BCC) ruled that the results of both the state and local elections in Germany’s capital of Berlin, that took place on the 26th of September 2021 together with the federal election, were invalid and had to be repeated within 90 days. Thus 88 days after … Continued
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Regional election in Latium, 12-13 February 2023
Context of the vote, election campaign On the eve of the 2022 Italian general election, the regional president of Latium (Lazio), Nicola Zingaretti, had been in office for two consecutive five-year terms since the resignation of Renata Polverini in 2012 following a series of scandals. From 2019 to 2021, the prominent centre-left leader had additionally … Continued
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Parliamentary election in Estonia, 5 March 2023
Held in the context of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, the 2023 general election in Estonia saw a landslide victory of the liberal, centre-right Reform Party led by incumbent Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Turnout, at 63.53%, was almost the same as in the previous general election held in March 2019. Six parties gained representation … Continued
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Provincial and Senate elections in the Netherlands
Introduction The 2023 Dutch provincial elections, which indirectly elected the Senate a few months later, saw a major change in the political landscape when a party with only one seat in the lower house suddently became the biggest party in the upper house. A small agrarian populist party, the Farmer-Citizen-Movement (BoerBurgerBeweging, BBB) was catapulted to … Continued
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Parliamentary election in Finland, 2 April 2023
The parliamentary elections that took place in Finland on 2 April, 2023 were in many respects unusual. Putin’s war in Ukraine has had a dramatic impact on Finnish security policy, with Finland seeking NATO membership by mid-May 2022 and joining the defence alliance two days after the election on 4 April. NATO membership was accepted almost unanimously … Continued
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Regional election in Friuli Venezia Giulia, 2-3 April 2023
Introduction In 2023, elections were held in 5 Italian regions (3 with ordinary statute and 2 with special statute): Lazio and Lombardy (12 and 13 February), Friuli-Venezia Giulia (2 and 3 April), Molise (25 and 26 June), and Trentino-Alto Adige (22 October). Unlike in other European countries, in Italy there is no single election day … Continued
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Regional election in Salzburg, 23 April 2023
Introduction The third victory in a row for the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), the 2023 Salzburg State Parliament election did not bring a new leading party to the region. It did, however, give the ÖVP a new coalition partner in the form of the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), and led to a … Continued
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Regional election in Bremen, 12 May 2023
The Bremen city state election as a special case among German state elections As the only two-city state among the German Länder, the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen occupies an intermediate position between territorial and city states. The Bremen regional election is held separately in the two municipalities of Bremen and Bremerhaven, with the nomination … Continued
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Elections in the European Union's neighborhood
Parliamentary election in Andorra, 2 April 2023
Andorra is a landlocked micro-state (81,588 inhabitants in 2022 and 468 km2) located in the heart of the Pyrenees between France and Spain. Andorra is a unique case in Europe, especially in view of its medieval political heritage (Medir, Vilanova & Pano 2022). Contemporary Andorra is an independent and sovereign state and a member state … Continued
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Short analyses
Parliamentary election in Monaco, 5 February 2023
Around 7,500 Monegasque citizens were called to the polls on February 5, 2023 to renew the 24 seats of the National Council. Under the 1962 constitution, the Principality’s Council of Government is appointed by the Prince, and is not accountable to Parliament. The Minister of State, head of government, is appointed by the Prince after … Continued
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Regional election in Aragon, 28 May 2023
On May 28, 2023, an election was held to elect the 67 members of the Aragonese regional legislature, the Cortes of Aragon. PSOE’s (S&D) Javier Lambán, president of the region since 2015 with the support of Podemos (GUE-NGL) and regionalist parties, was in trouble from mid-term onwards, with polls showing the PP (EPP) in … Continued
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Regional election in the Canary Islands, 28 May 2023
On May 28, 2023, elections were held to elect the 70 members of the Canary Islands’ autonomous parliament. Canarian politics is characterized by strong regionalist parties. While the previous left-wing executive already depended on the support of two of these parties, no less than three regional forces will support the new regional government. The incumbent … Continued
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Regional election in La Rioja, 28 May 2023
On May 28, 2023, elections were held to elect the 33 members of La Rioja’s regional parliament. In 2019, a coalition comprising the PSOE (S&D; 31.9%, -6.8 pp; 12 seats, -2) and a joint Podemos-Izquierda Unida list (GUE/NGL; 5.1%, -1.5 pp; 2 seats, =) had managed to build a historical left-wing majority after 24 years … Continued
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Regional election in Molise, 25-26 June 2023
The Regional Council of Molise, Italy’s second least populous and smallest region, was renewed on June 25 and 26, 2023. Two coalitions were vying for the presidency of the region: the center-right coalition led by Francesco Roberti (FI, EPP) and the center-left coalition, including the Five-Star Movement (M5S, NI), headed by Roberto Gravina (M5S). Roberti, … Continued
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