As a consensus-driven democracy, blessed with generous natural resources managed in a responsible way, Norway performs well in most international comparisons of governance, quality of life, and in rankings of economic and social conditions. Continuity and pragmatic solutions...

Somewhat paradoxically, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have moderated the political instability that characterized the preceding 12 years, and served to undermine sound policy development and implementation underpinned by a long-term vision. However, the pandemic has also...

Hungary has been governed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party since 2010. The gaining of successive two-thirds majorities in the 2010, 2014 and 2018 parliamentary elections has given the government the necessary leeway to push through far-reaching changes and...

Poland has been governed by the right-wing populist PiS since 2015. In 2020, PiS reaffirmed its hold on power through Andrzej Duda’s re-election as president of the republic in June. However, this was a narrow victory with Duda winning only 420,000 more votes (in a country...

With regard to some of the established indicators of political stability, Austrian politics has been marked by major turbulence recently. As in most other countries, this can be partially attributed to the complex and unprecedented challenges that arose due to the...

In the parliamentary election in September 2021, the cabinet coalition of the Left-Green Movement, the Independence Party and the Progressive Party, which has been in office since 2017, won a renewed mandate and remained in office, reshuffling some ministries among the...

The period under review covers the first two years in office of the second António Costa government. The period was inevitably overshadowed by the pandemic. However, it also saw the eventual demise of the Costa government in December 2021.

Belgium is a country of 31,000 km² located at the heart of northwestern Europe. It is densely populated (11.6 million inhabitants) and very open to the rest of the world. This is a strong asset that the country normally exploits very well, but which turned into a weakness...

In 2019, the Irish economy again performed impressively on key macroeconomic indicators. GDP growth was close to 5% and GNP growth was over 4%. Unemployment fell to 5%, a remarkable achievement given that it had been as high as 16% in 2012. Inflation remained at a very low...

In 2020–2021, the Romanian government’s ability to effectively govern and advance meaningful legislation was hindered by political instability and a rotating door of different coalitions. In February 2020, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) initiated a no-confidence vote...