Finland and Lithuania are about to send a young man to his death. The 21-year-old in question is Daniil Mukhametov , who has fled Russia to avoid forced military service. Pursued by Russian police, he bought a ticket on the Kaliningrad train that transits Lithuania, used keys purchased online to open a carriage, and jumped from a moving train. He then travelled via Tallinn to Finland, where he sought asylum. Now he is at risk of deportation.  It is almost impossible to believ

As Zohran Mamdani seizes New York City, what does this 34-year-old’s feat say about politicians further afield? On November 4 th , Zohran Kwame Mamdani became the first Muslim to be elected to the New York City mayoralty, and the youngest since 1892. He brings a disconcerting contrast to the front door of his adversaries, which include the President himself, whilst raising the crucial question of how the Democrats will use this new method of politics to restore orthodoxy. Mam

It was meant to be different. When Labour rode to a massive 174 seat majority  in July 2024, despite a palpable lack of excitement about the Keir Starmer project, a feeling that at least the adults were back in the room  prevailed. Even if Starmer’s Labour lacked ideas and energy, they would at least provide a period of stability for a country in desperate need of calm leadership. Ministers such as Rachel Reeves, David Lammy, Ed Miliband and Bridget Phillipson had spent signi

Occasionally, you stumble across something that perfectly articulates the current zeitgeist. Recently,  Tim Stanley on the Daily T podcast  explained that Farage and Reform are neither a right-wing nor left-wing party; they are a nationalist outfit. Essentially meaning that on some issues the party tacks left, on others they sway right. Fundamentally opportunist, everything is underpinned by the idea and sense, whether factual or not, that decisions are made for your, the Bri

In Northern Ireland, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly turned down an invitation  to attend the inauguration of Irish President-elect Catherine Connolly. She had cited her attendance at a number of Remembrance Day events. Some nationalists and unionists claimed this rejection was political , rather than anything to do with Remembrance Day taking priority in a scheduling conflict.  It cannot be said definitively one way or the other if they are correct in this asserti

Eighteen months after our first interview , Europinion sat down once more with Daniel Jackson, the President of the self-declared Free Republic of Verdis, to reflect on how this ambitious micronational project has evolved. Jackson speaks candidly about Verdis’s shifting geopolitical environment, the pressures of sustaining a self-declared state, and the challenges posed by its location on the contested margins between Croatia and Serbia. A central focus of the conversation is

‘Massacres are carried out during night hours when no-one is there to witness them.’  Full morgues were described by Tanzanian doctors following the country’s elections at the end of October . When President Samia Suluhu Hassan came to power in 2021 following the death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, she was hailed  for her easing of political repression, and seemed to be a key cog in a journey back to full democracy in Tanzania. Yet here we are, four years later, and she

They called it a contract with the people to signify that promises made before the 2024 general election would be kept to their voters. Last Monday they finally put what was left of it in the shredder. With budget speculation having been at fever pitch in Westminster for well over a month, and expected to boil on at such heat for at least another three weeks (opting for a far later date than usual will do just that), Reform’s silence on economics had become one of the larger

“Turn the volume up!” was the emphatic cry from Zohran Mamdani to (a likely enraged) Donald Trump as he celebrated his victory in New York City’s 2025 mayoral election. Mamdani, who rode a wave of grounded progressivism rooted in affordability all the way to City Hall, could not have chosen a more apt phrase to mark the moment. As he left the stage to the Bollywood classic Dhoom Machale,   it became strikingly clear that it is indeed time to turn the volume up on the potentia

In the heat of Summer 2023, as tourists swarmed Crete’s postcard-perfect beaches, Greek police raided a fertility clinic  in the port town of Chania. What they uncovered was a sophisticated operation involving illegal surrogacy and human trafficking.  I first heard about the case through the Greek community in Melbourne. Some of the commissioning parents involved were known within those circles and word of the investigation in Crete circulated quickly. At first, the details w

I would describe myself as a cautious monarchist. It is not that I agree with the monarchy as an institution but rather that I fear a President Farage or someone of similar bilious intent. In an alternative world, I would see them consigned to a council estate in Wolverhampton, à la Sue Townsend, but we have to work with the circumstances we have, not the ones we want. The Andrew farce though has really caused me to question my views on monarchy altogether. While Andrew Mount

Europe is sabotaging its own climate goals by prioritising the protection of its car industry over allowing affordable Chinese electric vehicles in. This turns the green transition into a trade dispute with China, whilst risking the green transformation both sides urgently need. Europe doesn’t need a trade war, it needs a strategy. Instead of raising tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles , the EU should establish a Green Trade Truce based on transparency, cooperation and fair

Valencia has been the talk of the town this past year, but perhaps not for the best of reasons. In a period of political instability in Spain, the Valencian Community has stood out for various corruption cases and its worsening housing crisis . Most salient in the social sphere of late has been Valencia, a region of over 2.5 million people, falling silent to pay tribute to the 229 victims who lost their lives to flooding  just over a year ago.  In spite of the outbreak of cri

For context, ‘new left’ encompasses both the recently formed Your Party and the revitalised Green Party under Zack Polanski.  At the moment, these two separate parties have even been campaigning side-by-side, in a somewhat wholesome, but more so politically disconcerting joint campaigning effort that won’t last ten minutes. They appear tethered in a codependent manner, comparable to the graphic horror of Michael Shank’s Together , though they are distinct political entities w

Cyprus seldom appears in Europe's rule of law debates. While Brussels scrutinises Poland and Hungary for dismantling judicial independence , the Republic of Cyprus quietly maintains the façade of a well-governed democracy, small, stable, and uncontroversial. Yet beneath this appearance of order lies a legal system defined by concentration of power, minimal oversight, and selective accountability. The 2025 EU Rule of Law Report commends "further progress" ,  but its diplomatic

Newly elected leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanksi, has taken British politics by storm. The self-proclaimed ‘eco-populist’ has resurrected the Green Party’s reputation amongst voters and driven the Greens’ takeover of the Conservatives as the third largest political party in the UK. And it’s not only membership that has spiked; broadcast coverage  of the Greens has increased by 44% since early September. With the party currently holding just four seats in the House of Co

In a result that few expected, the centrist-liberal D66 has won  a plurality of seats in this year’s Dutch elections, narrowly fending off the far-right PVV. Many publications internationally have hailed  the results as a victory for the centre ground and, correspondingly, a defeat for the far-right. Delve closer into the results and the broader Dutch political context, however, and this analysis seems dubious. The snap vote follows elections held in 2023, which the PVV won  

When it comes to political crises in Latin America, Peru is always on everyone's lips. The country suffered yet another political earthquake early last month, ending the presidency of Dina Boluarte . The now former president, like her immediate and myriad other predecessors, was removed by Congress after a brief stint. Peru has had eight presidents in the last ten years, with Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) being the last to complete his term. Since then, instability has gone from

Halloween sees droves of endearingly-costumed kids break down our doors, yet there is another annual tradition that I am somewhat less looking forward to this year. Remembrance Day is normally a time of reflection, one that is about celebrating the bravery of those who have fought and died for us. On remembrance day, I might wear a white poppy for peace, and may also wear a red poppy.  One of these symbols has sadly been linked to the far-right,  despite the British Legion’s

October 4 th  saw a landslide victory for the Georgian Dream Party, securing them sixty-four out of sixty-four districts on only forty-one percent voter turnout, signalling significant corruption at work.  Over the summer, Tbilisi has been rocked by protests, but in the wake of last year's October election, it is apparent that the Georgian Dream is showing little tolerance for dissenting opposition. Strong economic performance, with GDP rising 7.9 percent  this past year, has