Politics

The Conservatives’ sweep to victory in the 7 May general election means that a triumphant David Cameron will be back at 10 Downing Street without much hassle and without relying on a coalition partner to form the next government. The Tories’ 331 seats give him an outright majority, the first of its kind in over two decades. The Labour Party suffered a humiliating defeat and the Liberal Democrats were crushed beyond anybody’s expectation. In response to such a dismal outcome both Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg stepped down as party leaders, followed by Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party, another underperformer in this year’s general elections

On Monday, 4 May, the Italian Parliament voted on legislation aimed at reforming the country’s electoral system. The overhaul, proposed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, seeks to put an end to a fragmented political scene that has ushered in four different governments since the beginning of this decade. A jubilant ruling coalition welcomed the Parliament’s approval of the bill by a vote of 334 to 61. Soon after the secret ballot came to a close and the votes were counted, an enraptured Renzi tweeted: “Commitment kept, promise fulfilled.” “Mission accomplished”, stated Reform Minister Elena Boschi

On 28 April, Prime Minister Viktor Orban came out in favour of reinstating the death penalty. “The death penalty should be put on the agenda in Hungary,” the Hungarian leader boldly stated. “Hungary will stop at nothing when it comes to protecting its citizens.” The statement quickly drew criticism from both home and abroad with a harsh reproval from the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker. He called on the Hungarian leader to respect the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which forbids the death penalty in all of its member states

At the Eurogroup meeting on Friday, 24 April, all eyes were on Greece. The embattled Eurozone country got hammered for backtracking on much needed fiscal reforms. Eurogroup officials stated that such measures are vital in helping the Greek government secure its debt repayments. Without the remaining €7.2 billion in the bailout package, Greece will run out of money in a matter of weeks.  The stark warning came as Mr. Varoufakis, Greece’s Finance Minister, tried to calm fears over his country’s ability to raise

After five years of research, the European Commission has today accused Google of abusing its dominant position by promoting its products in Internet searches, where it control 90% of the market share in Europe. In parallel, the Commission has formally opened an antitrust investigation against Google’s Android mobile operating system, including its applications and services. This opens up a new front against Google, which could affect its aspirations of gaining ground in the mobile market.

Turkey’s diplomatic relations with Slovenia, Slovakia and Romania have seen a boost this week as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid official visits to the three countries. Turkey’s accession to the EU, bilateral trade and the fight against ISIL / ISIS were among the issues discussed between Mr. Erdoğan and the respective country leaders. Mr. Erdoğan’s visit had to be cut short because of terrorist incidents in Istanbul.

This week Saudi Arabia decided to recall its Ambassador to Sweden after Margot Wallström, the Swedish Foreign Minister, critized Saudi “human rights and democracy” standards. Wallström had been particularly vocal about the case of Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger and activist sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes for setting up a website called “Saudis Free Liberal Forum”. The Swedish Foreign Minister had described Badawi´s punishment as “medieval methods”.

The first official visit of the European Union High Representative to New York on 8 and 9 March included a statement made at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) regarding cooperation between the EU and the UN. The speech reflected the current European foreign policy priorities: putting Libya “back on track”, fighting terrorism in all its forms and across regions, and saving the lives of migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Europe.

The energy isolation of the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe is hopefully coming to an end, or at least progress is expected to be made in that direction, following the 4 March 2015 signing of the Madrid Declaration by the Prime Ministers of Spain and Portugal, the President of France and the President of the European Commission. They met in Madrid and agreed to expedite energy interconnection efforts in South-West Europe and ensure timely implementation of ongoing and planned projects.

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