2020s in European political history

The Greens became a governing party for the first time in January 2020 as part of a coalition deal with the right-wing Austrian People's Party.[1] On 6 October 2021, Austrian anti-corruption prosecutors conducted a raid on the offices of Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the headquarters of the Austrian People's Party and the Federal Ministry of Finance.[2] Kurz has been accused of embezzlement and bribery, along with nine high-profile politicians and newspaper executives.[2] As a result of the raid, Kurz has sustained heavy criticism from his junior The Greens, as well as the opposition.[3] On 9 October 2021, Kurz announced his resignation,[4] with Alexander Schallenberg to serve as his replacement.[5] As a result of the resignation, Kogler announced his intention to continue the governing coalition.[5]

The 2020 Belarusian presidential election was held on Sunday, 9 August 2020. Early voting began on 4 August and ran until 8 August.[6] Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko was reelected to the sixth term in office, with official results crediting him with 80% of the vote. Lukashenko has won every presidential election since 1994,[7] with all but the first being labelled by international monitors as neither free nor fair.[8]

Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed to have won a decisive first-round victory with at least 60% of the vote, and called on Lukashenko to start negotiations. Her campaign subsequently formed the Coordination Council to facilitate a transfer of power and stated that it was ready to organize "long-term protests" against the official results.[9][10] All seven members of the Coordination Council Presidium were subsequently arrested or went into exile. Numerous countries refused to accept the result of the election, as did the European Union, which imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials deemed to be responsible for "violence, repression and election fraud".[11]

The largest anti-government protests in the history of Belarus began in the lead-up to and during the election. Initially moderate, the protests intensified nationwide after official election results were announced on the night of 10 August, in which Lukashenko was declared the winner. Following the forced landing of Ryanair Flight 4978 to arrest opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, the European Union agreed to ban EU-based airlines from flying through Belarusian airspace, to ban Belarusian carriers from flying into EU airspace, and to implement a fresh round of sanctions.[12]

Routes of illegal migration through Belarus during 2021 crisis

The 2021 Belarus–European Union border crisis was a migrant crisis manifested in a massive influx of Middle Eastern and African migrants (mainly from Iraq) to Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland via those countries' borders with Belarus. The crisis was triggered by the severe deterioration in Belarus–European Union relations, following the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident, and the attempted repatriation of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya. The three EU nations have described the crisis as hybrid warfare by human trafficking of migrants, waged by Belarus against the European Union, and called on Brussels to intervene.[13][14]

The foreign minister Sophie Wilmès was treated in intensive care after contracting COVID-19 in November, 2020.[15]

The 2020–2021 Bulgarian protests were a series of demonstrations held in Bulgaria, mainly in the capital Sofia, as well as cities with a large Bulgarian diaspora, such as Brussels,[16] Paris,[16] Madrid,[16] Barcelona,[16] Berlin[16] and London.[16] The protest movement was the culmination of long-standing grievances against endemic corruption and state capture, particularly associated with prime minister Boyko Borisov's governments, in power since 2009.

Snap parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 11 July 2021 after no party was able or willing to form a government following the April 2021 elections.[17] The populist party There Is Such a People (ITN), led by musician and television host Slavi Trifonov, narrowly won the most seats over a coalition of the conservative GERB and Union of Democratic Forces parties. ITN's success was propelled primarily by young voters.

Kaja Kallas became the first female Prime Minister after the previous government fell after a corruption scandal.[18]

The murder of Samuel Paty reignited the controversy surrounding depictions of Muhammad, and was followed by the 2020 Nice stabbing committed by another jihadist, as well as a far-right attack in Avignon on the same day.[19] Before the attacks, the Charlie Hebdo depiction had been republished on September 1, and the trial over the Charlie Hebdo shooting in 2015 had begun on September 2.[20] There had also been a second attack on Charlie Hebdo's former headquarters in Paris on September 25, and on October 2, President Emmanuel Macron had called Islam a 'religion in crisis'.[20] Following Macron's remarks, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggested he needed "mental treatment", leading France to withdraw its ambassador.[21] Saudi Arabia and Iran condemned France, while tens of thousands marched against in protest in Bangladesh.[22] The French government demanded that the representative body for the religion in the country accept a 'charter of republican values', rejecting political Islam and foreign interference, as well as establishing a system of official licenses for imams.[23] Overseas, the French military intervention in the Sahel continued fighting against the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.[24]

The former president Nicolas Sarkozy was charged with corruption in 2020.[25] Sarkozy, was found guilty in 2021 and sentenced to three years in jail for corruption.[26][27] Two years of this sentence are suspended, and one to be served in prison.[27]

On 17 September 2021, Macron and his foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian recalled the French ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia after the formation of the AUKUS defense technology between the U.S., Australia, and UK (from which France was excluded). As part of the 2021 security agreement, the U.S. decided to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, to counter China in the Pacific and Indo-Pacific region, and Australia canceled a US$66 billion (A$billion) deal from 2016 to purchase twelve French-built conventionally powered (diesel) submarines.[28][29][30] The French government was furious at the cancellation of the submarine agreement and said that it had been blindsided, calling the decision a 'stab in the back'.[28][29][30] On September 22, Biden and Macron pledged to improve the relationship between the two countries.[31]

Following a surge of migrant arrivals from Turkey, Greece suspended all asylum applications in March 2020.[32] The freeze was lifted a month later.[33]

The 2021 Greek protests broke out in response to a proposed government bill that would allow police presence on university campuses for the first time in decades.

During the 2021 Italian government crisis, the Conte II Cabinet fell after Matteo Renzi, leader of Italia Viva (IV) and former Prime Minister, that he would revoke IV's support to the government of Giuseppe Conte.[34] On 18 and 19 January, Renzi's party abstained and the government won the key confidence votes in the Chamber and in the Senate, but it failed in reaching an absolute majority in the Senate.[35] On 26 January, Prime Minister Conte resigned from his office, prompting President Sergio Mattarella to start consultations for the formation of a new government. On 13 February, Mario Draghi was sworn in as Prime Minister, leading to the Draghi Cabinet.[36]

The 2020 Irish general election resulted in a historic win for the Sinn Féin, making it the second largest party of the Dáil Éireann.[37] The result was seen as a historic shift in Ireland's political landscape, effectively ending the two-party system of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.[38] The reason for the electoral upset for these parties was believed to be in voter dissatisfaction on issues of health, housing and homelessness.[39] Sinn Féin won 37 seats, Fianna Fáil won 38, and Fine Gael won 35.[40] Seán Ó Fearghaíl was re-elected to Ceann Comhairle at the first sitting of the 33rd Dáil on 20 February 2020.[41][42]

On 27 June 2020, Micheál Martin was elected as Taoiseach, in an historic coalition agreement that saw his party Fianna Fáil go into government with the Green Party and Fianna Fáil's historical rivals, Fine Gael. A majority of 93 members of the Dáil voted in favour of him taking the role, while 63 members voted against him.[43][44]

Ingrida Šimonytė became the second-ever female Prime Minister of Lithuania in 2020.

On 7 August 2020, a protest against the arrest of LGBT activist Margot led to a confrontation with police in central Warsaw and resulted in the arrest of 47 others, some of whom were peacefully protesting and others who were bystanders to the event, dubbed "Polish Stonewall" in an analogy to the 1969 Stonewall riots.

The October–December 2020 Polish protests, commonly known as the Women's Strike (Polish: Strajk Kobiet), are the ongoing anti-government demonstrations and protests in Poland that began on 22 October 2020, in reaction to a ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal, mainly consisting of judges who were appointed by the ruling Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) dominated United Right, which tightened the law on abortion in Poland. The ruling made almost all cases of abortion illegal, including those cases in which the foetus had a severe and permanent disability, or an incurable and life-threatening disease.[45][46] It was the biggest protest in the country since the end of the People's Republic during the revolutions of 1989.[47][48]

A political crisis began in Romania on 1 September 2021 engulfing both major coalition partners of the Cîțu Cabinet, namely the conservative-liberal National Liberal Party (PNL) and the progressive-liberal Save Romania Union (USR), then USR PLUS.[49] The crisis was sparked by disagreements over the so-called Anghel Saligny investment program meant to develop Romanian settlements,[50] which was supported by Prime Minister Cîțu but was severely criticized by USR PLUS (referring to it as a "brand new OUG 13 abuse")[51][52] whose ministers boycotted a government meeting.[50] In response, Prime Minister Cîțu sacked Justice Minister Stelian Ion (USR)[53] and named Interior Minister Lucian Bode (PNL) as interim, igniting a crisis.[54][55] In retaliation, USR PLUS submitted a motion of no confidence (also known as a motion of censure) against the Cîțu Cabinet together with the nationalist opposition party Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR)[56][57] and by 7 September, all USR PLUS ministers resigned on their own.[58] Negotiations between PSD, PNL and UDMR for a new majority took place throughout most of November 2021, after which Ciucă was designated again by Iohannis as Prime Minister on 22 November. The crisis finally ended on 25 November, with the Ciucă Cabinet taking office.

The entire Russian cabinet resigned in January 2020, with a new Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin soon sworn in.[59] Following this, a constitutional referendum was held in Russia in 2020.[60] The draft amendments to the Constitution were submitted to a referendum in accordance with article 2 of the Law on Amendments to the Constitution.[61] The referendum was criticized for extending the rule of Vladimir Putin, as well as for not following the normal rules for referenda in Russia (by being labelled an "all-Russian vote" instead).[62][63]

The anti-corruption activist and politician Alexei Navalny was the target of an attempted assassination by the Russian Federal Security Service, whose members involved in the attempt he exposed together with the investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat.[64] Following his return to Russia, he was arrested and immediately placed in pre-trial detention.[65] This, and the release of his film A Palace for Putin, led to the 2021 Russian protests. Navalny was ultimately sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a penal colony.[66] A court ordered the Anti-Corruption Foundation, linked to Navalny, to cease its activities.[67]

In late 2021, the Russian buildup of forces on its border with Ukraine caused major world concerns. [68] [69] [70] [71] [72] [73] [74] [75]

On 7 July 2020, a series of protests and riots began over the government announcement of the reimplementation of the curfew and the government's allegedly poor handling of the COVID-19 situation, as well as being a partial continuation of the "One of Five Million" movement. The initial demand of the protesters had been to cancel the planned reintroduction of curfew in Serbia during July, which was successfully achieved in less than 48 hours of the protest.[76] Among other causes, the protests were driven by the crisis of democratic institutions under Aleksandar Vučić's rule and the growing concern that the President is concentrating all powers in his hands at the expense of the parliament.[77]

A series of protests broke out after the formation of Janez Janša's government in early 2020, with protestors demanding Janša's resignation and early elections.[78]

Janez Janša has been accused of eroding freedom of media since assuming office. According to a report by International Press Institute Slovenia has experienced a swift downturn in media and press freedom. IPI accused Janša of creating a hostile environment for journalists by his tweets, which IPI described as "vitriolic attacks".[79][80] He has also been accused of usurping power and corruption and is often compared to Viktor Orbán.[81][82]

A government crisis started on 21 June 2021 in Sweden after the Riksdag ousted Prime Minister Stefan Löfven with a no-confidence vote.[83][84] This was the first time in Swedish history a Prime Minister was ousted by a no-confidence vote.[85][86] Löfven was narrowly re-elected to stay in power later.[87] In November, the Riksdag voted for Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson to become the first female prime minister of Sweden. However, Andersson resigned several hours later, after the Green Party quit the coalition. The Greens quit the coalition after the opposition budget was approved by the Riksdag.[88][89]

Under Boris Johnson's government, the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020; trade deal negotiations continued to within days of the scheduled end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 CET. The effects of Brexit will in part be determined by the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement which was agreed on 24 December 2020 and ratified by the UK Parliament on 30 December 2020 and was "provisionally" applied by the EU from 31 December 2020.[90]

Loyalists and unionists argued that post-Brexit trading arrangements have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.[91] The Loyalist Communities Council, which represents paramilitary groups including the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association withdrew their support for the Good Friday Agreement (which brought to an end The Troubles) until the sea border is removed.[92] A series of riots in loyalist areas of Northern Ireland began in Waterside, Derry, on 30 March 2021. First Minister Arlene Foster announced her resignation after losing the support of her Democratic Unionist Party in the aftermath of the riots.[93]

On 15 October 2021, Sir David Amess, a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Southend West, died after being stabbed multiple times at his constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church Hall in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. Ali Harbi Ali, a 25-year-old British man, was arrested at the scene and was later charged with murder and the preparation of terrorist acts.