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Politics

Social Europe is an award-winning digital media publisher driven by the core values of freedom, sustainability, and equality. These principles guide our exploration of society’s most pressing challenges. This archive page curates Social Europe articles focused on political issues, offering a rich resource for innovative thinking and informed debate.

Poland: from populism … into the unknown

Jan Zielonka

Jan Zielonka draws lessons from the second transition in Poland—and its Europe-wide ramifications.

Adopting far-right rhetoric increases far-right votes

Antonia May and Christian Czymara

Mainstream parties attempting to regain support from radical-right populists can unintentionally benefit them.

Crime and security in far-right discourse

Claire Hamilton

Protests in Ireland against the housing of single male asylum-seekers highlight the role played by security in far-right discourse.

Ukraine: a bitter armistice or war until victory?

Frank Hoffer

After two years of war, victory eludes Ukraine yet must be denied Russia—a frozen conflict is the least bad scenario.

Ukraine war: the west is at a crossroads

Stefan Wolff

It must double down on aid to Kyiv, accept a compromise deal or face humiliation by Russia.

Germany: an elegy for principled humanitarianism

Lys Kulamadayil

Funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza has fallen victim to other than humanitarian considerations.

What works for the left? Liberal socialism

Bo Rothstein

As the European Parliament elections loom, with the populists rising, progressives need a liberal-left narrative.

Ukraine war: Zelenskyy’s very risky move

Stefan Wolff and Tetyana Malyarenko

Kyiv needs a fundamental rethink of its strategy, not just a reshuffle of the military leadership.

Ukraine and Europe: speaking truth to ourselves

Sergio Fabbrini

The war in Ukraine has two major implications for Europe and Europeans. Unfortunately, they are contradictory.

Germany’s protests: defying a national stereotype

Philipp Gassert

The wave of demonstrations against the Alternative für Deutschland is no surprise, given Germany’s postwar history.

Backsliding in Belgrade: Serbia’s European future

Angelica Vascotto

Serbia is rapidly veering off its accession course, with a potentially fraudulent election and growing distance from EU foreign policy.

Europe’s nightmare: an isolationist America

Paul Mason

A spectre is haunting Europe, Paul Mason writes. It is the spectre of Trumpism, mark two.

Ukraine war: corruption and politico-military tensions

Stefan Wolff and Tetyana Malyarenko

Corruption scandals and high-level rifts could become an existential threat as Kyiv asks for more military aid.

A sharp right turn: European Parliament election forecast

Kevin Cunningham, Susi Dennison, Simon Hix and Imogen Learmonth

Progressive European leaders need to tell a convincing story about the necessity of reaching outwards in a dangerous world.

Europe and conflict prevention: better than cure

Željana Zovko

The European Union has the opportunity to prioritise preventive action over crisis management.

Preparing Russia for permanent war

Nina L Khrushcheva

Behind the Kremlin façade of a grateful people devoted to their leader lie despair, paranoia, intolerance, rage and violence.

Refugees and Rwanda: the Tories’ road to perdition

Colin Crouch

Behind the Conservatives’ obsession with sending asylum-seekers to Africa is a politics of never-ending scapegoating.

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ETUI Advertisement

New Edition - Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2025

Can Europe preserve its distinctive social model while simultaneously rearming, reindustrialising, and reorganising its economy in a more conflictual and competitive world? This is the central question raised in this new edition of the Bilan social, a reference publication released every spring for more than 25 years by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Social Observatory (OSE).

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Is financial resilience and trust in Europe faltering?

In this episode of Eurofound Talks, host Mary McCaughey and senior researcher Eszter Sandor unpack the results of the 2025 Living and Working in the EU e-survey. While headline inflation has stabilised at 2.1%, the data reveals a continent gripped by chronic precariousness, with 57% of respondents now at risk of depression. Mary and Eszter explore how this economic insecurity is impacting institutional trust and democratic engagement.

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FEPS Advertisement

Read the book "The open future and its enemies" 

A robust democracy must not leave the future in the hands of the alliance between Big Tech and the far right. AI must be politically reined in and democratically shaped so that humanity retains its sovereignty.

Artificial intelligence is regarded as the driving force of progress. Yet it has long since become a challenge to democracy. The book argues that uncontrolled AI will erode our freedom, self-determination and democracy.

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Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2026

Minimum wage policy across Europe has shifted significantly, with many EU countries raising wages above average and anchoring them to adequate living standards. This trend is consolidating as countries increasingly adopt the reference values recommended in the European Minimum Wage Directive — recently upheld by the European Court of Justice.

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S&D Group in the European Parliament Advertisement

S&D Africa Days 2026

We are pleased to invite you to save the date for the S&D Africa Days 2026, taking place on 30 June and 1 July 2026, in Brussels. 

At a time when Africa is too often viewed through narrow and one-sided narratives, this initiative reflects a key political priority for the S&D Group: to advance a renewed, forward-looking partnership of equals between Europe and Africa based on equality, solidarity, social justice and shared progress. 

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FES Advertisement

“What is the actual purpose of the state?” – this central question is the focus of the analysis. At a time when bureaucratic processes are making life difficult for citizens, the paper proposes a three-part model. It aims at a conception of the state as a platform that helps society build the capabilities it needs to address its problems effectively.

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