Political ideologies

Photo: AP

The threat of violent Islamist extremism has been growing in Kosovo, the US State Department said in its latest annual report on global terrorism.

The threat of violent Islamist extremism has been growing in Kosovo, the US State Department said in its latest annual report on global terrorism.

This development in Kosovo is assisted in part by funding from foreign organizations that preach extremist ideologies and violent extremist groups actively using social media to spread propaganda and recruit followers, the report said.

Members of the anarchist group Rouvikonas (Rubicon) entered the offices of the Bank of Greece in central Athens shortly after 12.30 p.m. on Wednesday, scattered leaflets and chanted slogans before fleeing.

The raid involved around 20 people, chiefly from Rouvikonas but also from the anarchist group based in Nea Philadelfia.

Two topics have kept Turkey's agenda occupied for the past couple of days: The huge march for justice of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) that ended in Istanbul, and the G-20 summit held in Hamburg. 

In a democratic country, opposition counts. Democratic systems function with checks and balances. They also rely on transparency, accountability and responsibility. In parliamentary democracies, the legislative body is the reassurance of checks and balances.

The victory of French President Emmanuel Macron's party in the first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday - which came on top of his presidential triumph last month - inspires optimism about the future of Europe.

Politics in Europe continues to surprise. Two important elections showed results which were not predicted by public opinion polls. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party has lost its majority and Prime Minister Theresa May has now been forced to form a minority government.

Canada's official opposition Conservatives on May 27 chose a 38-year-old leader to fight a 2019 election against Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but only after a fierce contest that revealed internal divisions.

The victory of centrist Emmanuel Macron in France's presidential election, in which he beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen by a particularly wide margin, is a very positive development on a number of fronts.

Yet another new political force has emerged in France, Emmanuel Macron, sending a frisson of relief through the European establishment after he managed to snatch the first round of the French presidential election from Front National leader Marine Le Pen.