FEPS Young Academics Network

This @FEPSYAN policy study discusses further steps that #CoFoE should take towards bridging the gap between EU and national politics and citizens’ involvement in shaping EU future through a broader process of EU deliberative democracy. feps-europe.eu/publication/ci…

In Hungary’s election, Péter Magyar rallied urban white-collar workers, business figures excluded from state patronage networks, intellectuals, and youth. It’s much less clear that his new government can satisfy all these groups’ expectations. jacobin.com/2026/04/hungar…

🔸Pedro Sánchez has championed European sovereignty in economics and security 🔸Sánchez strengthen ties with China also in the interest of Europe 🔸Global Progressive Mobilisation in Barcelona is a major event to energise the left linkedin.com/posts/l%C3%A1s…

From @Alberto63137378 about the Trump admin: Such incoherence is par for the course for a president who has variously forecast that the conflict may continue for days, weeks or months—qualified by his claim that the United States could fight "forever." inthesetimes.com/article/axis-o…

2026 continues on a rollercoaster 🎢 It is more urgent than ever to hold on, take a deep breath, reflect on the underlying trends shaping today's world, and find hope & the energy to resist Read the latest Reads & Views for more inspiration 💭 feps-europe.eu/inspiration_ca…

Orban’s defeat is a Pyrrhic victory for Brussels and the European mainstream, a dose of copium that allows inept and visionless leaders to forget for a moment that they are also on a trajectory towards failure and their own political demise. My latest for @AJEnglish aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/…

Mexico’s 120 million citizens will begin to enjoy free, universal access to healthcare from next year, following a decree by socialist president Claudia Sheinbaum. The landmark policy will unify a fragmented and unequal system that has left many unable to receive care at certain hospitals and clinics, forcing them instead to use only what their insurance provider covers. In theory, Mexico’s sprawling network of public health institutions should provide most people with coverage, but in practice poorer people and those in rural communities often cannot get the medicines or treatment they need without out-of-pocket expenses. Private health insurance, meanwhile, fills the gap, creating a two-tier system based on income. The first phase of the new universal system will begin on 13 April, with citizens aged 85 and older eligible to register for the ID needed to access care. From January 2027, healthcare institutions will start working together to bridge gaps in access to care. Since coming to power in 2024, Sheinbaum has sought to undo decades of damage caused by neoliberal policies, building on the work of the previous socialist government. She has pledged to build 1.8m new homes to tackle a housing shortage while strengthening tenants’ rights. Last year she announced plans to shorten the work week from 48 hours to 40 hours, while increasing the minimum wage by 13%, continuing a policy of regular hikes championed by her predecessor and mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador since 2018. "For years it was said that the minimum wage couldn't go up,” she told a conference in December, “that it would cause inflation, that there would no longer be investment in the country, foreign investment.” Despite that, following a cumulative minimum wage increase of 154% since 2018, “we are at a record level of foreign investment," she added.

🇭🇺 Législatives en Hongrie : Viktor Orbán contrôle-t-il toujours les campagnes du pays ? Témoignages édifiants. "Oui, j'achetais des voix à la demande de la maire du village." radiofrance.fr/franceculture/…

🔸Change is expected in Hungary 🇭🇺 by most people 🔸Record high turnout is likely (well above 70%) 📶 🔸Duopolistic 👥 power structure emerging (without left) 🔸Much depends on any 3rd party gaining seats 🤷‍♂️ linkedin.com/posts/l%C3%A1s…

“Conservatism draws on a long intellectual tradition, and it offers its adherents some sophisticated, even beguiling rationales for their destructive politics,” writes Katherine Stewart in her review of the book Furious Minds by Laura K. Field. democracyjournal.org/magazine/80/up…

And though we keep hearing that its race is run, #SocialDemocracy can still stage a comeback. Its chance may lie in #Asia, writes @MircoGuenther. ips-journal.eu/topics/future-…

✅Standing up to the far-right ✅Acting against climate change ✅ Defending equality ✅ Stepping up for housing ✅ Giving a voice to young people They are mobilising for a better world, and they are joining us in Barcelona for the #GPM2026! What about you? 🔗 Learn more: globalprogressivemobilisation.org

Liberalism needs a consistent and clear—and new—set of foreign-policy principles. Four leading experts discuss. democracyjournal.org/magazine/80/li…

The war with Iran will not produce a freer or more democratic country. dissentmagazine.org/online_article…

🔸Elections in both DK 🇩🇰 & SI 🇸🇮 produced hung parliaments, difficult coalition talks follow 🔸In DE 🇩🇪 regional elections were setback for SPD, but in FR 🇫🇷 the trend is socialist recovery 🔸IT 🇮🇹referendum became first major defeat of PM Meloni linkedin.com/posts/l%C3%A1s…

I wrote about mercenaries & foreign fighters in the Yugoslav wars and their afterlives in Syria and Ukraine for @thebafflermag thebaffler.com/salvos/yugosla…

My new study is out with @FEPS_Europe. "Laboratories of Counter-Hegemony: Orbán, Trump and the Transatlantic Far-Right Ecosystem" maps the international infrastructure that has turned a small Central European country into a launchpad for reorganizing the Western right. The argument in brief: Orbán's illiberalism is not just authoritarian governance. It is a counter-hegemonic project, born from the failures of liberal globalism, designed to reshape state, civil society, and culture into an alternative order that can reproduce itself over time. A project like that cannot survive in one country alone. So, it didn't stay in one country. As Orbán noted at the latest CPAC Hungary, "We have realised that if we want to defeat the progressive globalists, we must also think in an international framework." The study traces how Orbán's Hungary wages counter-hegemony from inside the liberal order's own institutional architecture: converting EU funds, veto rights, and single-market access into resources for building a pan-European far-right bloc. And it follows the money and the networks across the Atlantic, where Hungarian public funds flow into foundations, fellowships, media platforms, and lobbying contracts that embed Orbán's politics deep within American conservative circles. If you want to see this ecosystem in action, you just have to read the news. Last week, CPAC Hungary brought 667 foreign guests from 51 countries to Budapest, three weeks before the April 12 Hungarian parliamentary elections, with Trump recording an endorsement video, Milei flying in as surprise headliner, Weidel, Kickl, Wilders, and Abascal lining up on stage, and Georgian Prime Minister Irakhli Kobakidze delivering the opening. Orbán told the crowd that Hungary is "the European outpost" of a global right-wing realignment whose "epicentre" is the United States. The study explains the architecture that makes gatherings like these possible. And here is the critical point: this counter-hegemonic ecosystem is designed to outlast any single election. Its endowed foundations, institutional partnerships, and personal networks will continue to germinate illiberal ideas and nurture the transatlantic far right even after Orbán loses government, which looks increasingly likely as we approach April 12. The domestic and international extra-governmental fortifications of illiberalism are built to last. Understanding how this machinery works is the first step toward dismantling it. Researchers including @VeghZsuzsanna, @rdanielkelemen, @jasperpsimons, and @DanielHegedus82 have done vital work mapping and theorizing Orbán's influence networks and their democratic consequences. This study adds a transatlantic counter-hegemonic lens, comprehensively tracing the ecosystem back to its roots. 👉 Read it here: feps-europe.eu/publication/la… #FarRight #Trump #Orban #Illiberalism @GUQatar

🇸🇮🇩🇰The two parliamentary elections in Slovenia & Denmark share common features: political fragmentation, electoral volatility & increasingly complex processes of government formation. In this EPO, read analyses from @JernejStromajer & @BrittaThomsen 🗳️🗞️ feps-europe.eu/election-obser…

Despite wins in Paris and Marseille, the local #elections offer little clue to what comes next. The key question remains: will #France’s left unite? An article by @AdrienneWolt. ips-journal.eu/topics/democra…

Mort de Lionel Jospin: l'ancien Premier ministre avait mis en place la semaine de 35 heures

As fascism’s grip only grows tighter, the popular fronts of yesterday can become blueprints for solidarity today. inthesetimes.com/article/the-bi…