Central Europe's Right-Wing Populist Networks up Their Game

Central Europe's right-wing populist networks up their game

Bolstered by Donald Trump's reelection and their recent successes at the polls, Europe's right-wing populists are working together to push their narratives across Europe and build an international alliance.

The Far Right’s Tipping Point

Beginning in the late 1980s, Eastern Europe shifted from being a political backwater to a political bellwether. By shrugging off the Soviet yoke and exiting communism, the region pointed toward the future collapse of the Soviet Union and the cresting of a third wave of democratization. The fast-track liberalizations of Eastern Europe in the 1990s encouraged similar bouts of deregulation and marketization elsewhere in the world. The disintegratio…

In Poland, Liberalism Takes Yet Another Hit

To the surprise of commentators both in Poland and abroad, prime minister Donald Tusk’s candidate, the highly educated, internationally respected liberal Rafał Trzaskowski, did not become Poland’s next president. A former member of the European Parliament (MEP), cabinet minister, mayor of Warsaw, and deputy leader of the Civic Platform (PO), Trzaskowski embodied everything Western elites […]

Poland: Donald Tusk's liberal camp lost yet another election. Why?

President Donald Trump meets with and poses for a photo with Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki in the Oval Office, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian) It is yet another time when I turned out to be right, but it does not bring me any joy. Donald Tusk’s party’s candidate, Rafał Trzaskowski, lost the presidential elections to his opponent, Karol Nawrocki, an “independent” candidate supported by PiS.…