Is Southeastern Europe plotting a democratic remontada?

An unexpected comeback, also designated by the Spanish word remontada, is one of the most exciting things that can happen in sports. Proof being the recent explosion of joy among Dutchmen  after the Netherlands scored the victorious 2-1 goal in the 83rd minute of the Euro Football Championship (UEFA)  against Poland. 

Remontadas happen in politics as well. Recently, citizens across the EU felt the excitement of bringing the change our society needs by casting their votes during the European elections. And despite the wave of extremists making headlines across Europe, some think democrats are up to a rebound. “After 2016, the peak year of contemporary illiberalism, it looked like the wrath was coming. It was bad, indeed, and the trend remains against democracy today, but in many places, the democrats are showing signs of resilience and coming back. The match is on,” historian Adrian Cioflâncă wrote in the Romanian cultural journalism outlet Scena9. A remontada might very well be on its way.

However, the democratic comeback is not happening everywhere. In Western Europe, where democracy is safer at first glance, extremists like the French Marine Le Pen (RN, far right) ascend. In the end, a democratic renewal might come from the very people who are tired of fighting authoritarian influence.

The Southeastern spring of democracy

In Romania, the far-right parties Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and SOS collectively won 20% of the votes at the EU elections. Over 67% of the votes went to democratic parties, showing that Romania is still a stronghold against extremist campaigns. One of the populist tactics used by AUR during the EU elections was the evoking of famous historical Romanian leaders, like Vlad Țepeș – the ruler also known as Vlad the Impaler or Dracula – as Radu Umbreș from the Romanian online publication PressOne highlights. Despite Romania, many other Balkan countries like Greece, Bulgaria, and Croatia kept extremists at bay with a pro-EU vote.

Less than two months away from Turkey’s local elections, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (AKP, Islamo-Conservative) announced that he intends to change the Constitution of Turkey. According to the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, Erdoğan said the current Constitution is a “patchwork”. On another note, the leader also attacked Eurovision after naming it a “Trojan horse of social corruption.” This declaration came shortly after one of our contributors described the famous song contest as “a unique, multi-national democratic process.”

Another eurosceptic speech arrived from Kostadin Kostadinov, the leader of the far-right Bulgarian Revival party, which won 14% of the votes in Bulgaria during the last EU elections. As quoted by the independent daily publication Mediapool, Kostadinov wants to exit NATO, lift the ban on Russia, end the military aid to Ukraine, and even ponder Bulgaria’s membership in the EU.

Therefore, as the Romanian historian quoted at the beginning of this press review said, the match is on and the referee is far from blowing the full-time whistle.

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Updated on 3 July 2024