cross-posted from: https://retrofed.com/c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world/p/2204687/what-is-the-political-landscape-across-europe-right-now
There's been a lot of news regarding Andy Burnham becoming the new PM (is he actually changing anything or is it all talk?), the silly election between Farage and Count Binface, the three sort of maybe pro-independence (or pro-unification in the case of Northern Ireland) of the countries within the UK meeting, Burnham possibly looking to reverse Brexit (big if true), etc. Are referendums on the future of the countries of the UK likely, is the reversal of Brexit likely, what policies has Burnham made to improve standard of living?
Is the rise of AfD in Germany a concern, what has the other parties done to slow it down? What has the other parties / incumbent governments across Europe done to respond to the rise of the far-right?
In France, there's news of student protests that have gotten violent (by both sides), what's up with that? I've heard news of the rise of both LFI (left wing populist, their leader from my understanding is pro-Putin and tankieish, is this true?) and the National Rally (the far-right), what's happening around that?
What has the new leader of Hungary (Peter Magyar) done to reform? What about other Eurosceptic (or formerly Eurosceptic?) nations like Slovakia? I've seen some news regarding recent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (where nationalist leaders have been elected), how significant are those?
There's been lots of drone attacks, tampering of infrastructure, etc. by the Russians on various neighbouring countries (Poland, the Baltics, Moldova, etc.), have those affected the policies of those states in any way? And of course, how is Ukraine doing against the invasion by Russia (has support changed, have there been any significant advances or retreats, etc.)?
And what about Spain, the Nordics, Italy, Portugal, etc.?
Nothing. All they do is help accelerating the AfD's rise by parroting any lie the AfD tells. Because the AfD isn't a problem for them but the chance to finally get rid of that pesky democracy that sets limits on their corruption.
That's the common denominator for all "conservatives". If they have to chose between democracy and power they will chose the latter every single time.
Their only other option would be actual sensible policies. But that's not actually a real option if you are deeply corrupt and just looking for a way to implement policies for your ultra-rich donors. So diversion via culture war and right-wing propaganda it is instead. Not a long-term solution when you will be eaten up by far-right parties this way. But who cares for long-term when it's about money and nice board positions now...
(And so they are happily abolishing transparency laws already while helping to implement more surveilance and more police powers. Because they are totally not planning to cooperate with fascists soon *wink wink*.)