Politics

After the Greek elections, Syriza’s Alexis Tsipras won’t get everything he wants – but he will probably get enough to paint it as a victory for beleaguered Greeks.

Something exciting is bubbling under the surface of British politics. The party system is breaking apart – ironically with the help of the enemy of the left, UKIP. People are becoming active in party politics again – particularly the Greens. 2014 was a good year for the party in the UK. So what will 2015 bring?

What is at stake in the upcoming national elections in Greece? Can Syriza surge to power? And what role do the Greens play in this constantly shifting political environment? However many questions there are, one thing is certain: these elections are different to any other held in recent decades. The results could change Europe permanently…

What is behind the success of the Hungarian Green Party ‘Politics Can Be Different’? Bright Green co-editor Violeta Vajda speaks to Hajdu Mária, newly-elected local Green councillor in Budapest, about the role of the Greens in Hungary today and in the years to come.

The rise of the radical Podemos party in Spain raises some serious questions for the Greens and all progressive parties and movements. We should look deeply at the party’s platform, leadership and policies and draw lessons from its rise – rather than resorting to pointless name-calling.

On November 1st the new European Commission took office in Brussels, a change in personnel that presents an opportunity for a shift in the EU’s approach to China.

The AfD is elbowing its way into the right-wing populist gap in the party political landscape with a call for a nationalistic approach to economic policy based on free market fundamentalism. As a counter-reaction to the pluralist and multicultural immigration society, it stands in opposition to everything that is Green.

Greens are now in government in Sweden for the first time in the party’s 33-year-long history, yet the electoral result was regarded as disappointing. In light of the rise of xenophobic populists and a difficult political climate, it remains to be seen how Greens will fare in the new coalition.

Civil society pressure, upcoming elections, and a lack of consensus within the Popular Party led to plans for the restriction of abortion to be abandoned – and caused the resignation of the Spanish Justice Minister last week.

The national elections in Sweden on September 14th, 2014, were a victory for the parties at the fringes, with the Feminist Initiative and the far-right Sweden Democrats both witnessing a surge in support, while the parties in government lost out. For the Greens it was a mixed outcome – disappointing results overall, yet also bringing a chance to enter the government for the first time.