Secrets, Intrigue and Confusion

Contradictory Messages

With campaigning in the European Parliamentary elections in its final week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Manfred Weber, the European Peoples Party's (EPP) Spitzenkandidat visited Zagreb to campaign for the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), a member of the EPP. Yet while Merkel and Weber sent messages about the nationalist threat to Europe, their hosts did not quite seem to get the message. At the rally, a nationalist song by ultra-nationalist singer Marko Perkovic Thompson was blasting away.

In their comment for Balkan Insight, Kurt Bassuener and Toby Vogel argue that the HDZ has publicly embarrassed Merkel and Weber, undermining their wider message. As they also point out, the incident is a timely reminder of the need to clear up the EPP's own ranks.

Read more: Merkel and Weber Must Reject the Croatian HDZ's Radical Agenda (May 23, 2019)

Poor Match?

The European elections results of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's GERB party will be negatively affected from the series of real estate scandals shaking the country in recent months. Photo: EPA-EFE/STEPHANIE LECOCQ
Like other citizens of the EU, Bulgarians will get the chance to select their representatives in the European Parliament this month. Yet how will they be able to make their choices, and how meaningful will their expressed preferences be?

Many voters will struggle to understand where Bulgarian parties stand on major questions and challenges facing the EU. A online test has been launched to help voters compare their own views on European issues to those of the main political parties running, but the anecdotal evidence suggests that the level of 'matching' is rather low. All of this, as our...