Elections in Portugal and Slovenia

Shortly before this newsletter was published, the presidential elections in Portugal were decided by a runoff vote. The candidate from the center-left camp, Social Democrat António José Seguro from the Partido Socialista, was elected as the new president with over two-thirds of the vote. His challenger was André Ventura, the candidate from the far-right Chega party. The conservative-liberal Partido Social Democrata (PSD) had called for Seguro to be elected.

Elections will be held in Slovenia on March 22. Here, there is a neck-and-neck race between the left-liberal candidate and current ruler Robert Golob and Trump's friend Janez Janša from the national-conservative Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS - Slovenska demokratska stranka). The SDS belongs to the Christian Democratic family of parties of the EPP (European People's Party) under Manfred Weber (CSU), who is campaigning vigorously for Janša. Criticism came from the Social Democrats and Liberals, who called on Weber to remove the SDS from the ranks of the EPP because of its stance against the rule of law and as a “Trojan horse” of Trumpism.

Redaction: Ulli Jentsch