Domestic Politics

The Netherlands is set to elect its youngest ever prime minister after the far-right party of Geert Wilders was projected to suffer losses in an election he brought about by bringing down the government. Rob Jetten, the 38-year-old leader of the pro-European centrist D66 party, is on course to claim the top job with most votes counted. His party is projected to win 27 of the 150 seats in the country's lower house of parliament, beating Mr Wilder's Freedom Party on 25, according to an exit poll by Ipsos. It comes just two years after he led his party to victory in the last election, winning 37 seats, although his coalition partners refused to endorse him as prime minister. Mr Jetten will also need to rely on a coalition himself, with 76 seats needed for a majority. At least four parties will be required for him to get there.

China’s engagement in Central Asia is entering a new phase. Instead of focusing mainly on roads, railways, and pipelines, Beijing is now investing in environmental infrastructure, especially waste management and renewable energy projects. Uzbekistan has become the centre of this shift, as its growing economy faces mounting waste and pollution challenges.

The European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov human rights prize to jailed Georgian journalist and editor Mzia Amaghlobeli and Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, calling them symbols of the "struggle for freedom". Amaghlobeli, 50, has emerged as a symbol of journalistic defiance to what the European Union says is a slide toward authoritarianism in her country.

Tensions are mounting in Armenia ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections, with the nation’s future hanging in the balance. Despite the excitement surrounding the Trump-brokered Washington Declaration in August, it is unclear whether it can overcome the lingering division that set in after defeat by Azerbaijan in the 44-day war. Recent surveys have shown a slight majority against the proposed TRIPP.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at a prison in Paris on Tuesday 21 October to begin serving a 5-year sentence for a criminal conspiracy to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya. He is the first ex-leader of modern France to be imprisoned. Sarkozy, hand-in-hand with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, left home before getting into a police car and traveling to prison. On his way to prison, Sarkozy said in a statement released on social media that “an innocent man” was being locked up. Sarkozy’s lawyers said a request for release has been immediately filed. He was convicted last month for criminal conspiracy in a scheme to finance his 2007 election campaign with funds from Libya.

Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of the untimely passing of Armenian theatrical director turned peace activist Georgi Vanyan. He was 58.

Candidates of the ruling Georgian Dream party have won local elections held on 4 October in all five self-governing cities namely Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi, Batumi, and Poti based on preliminary results released by the Central Election Commission. The results appear to consolidate the ruling party’s control over Georgia’s largest municipalities amid a backdrop of political tension and opposition boycotts of the local elections.

There is still a wide gap between East and West Germany, writes Marcel Furstenau on the website of the German broadcaster, Deutsche Welle. There is still a wide gap, even amongst young people who have only ever lived in a unified country. The new commissioner for eastern Germany, Elisabeth Kaiser, attempts to explain why. Elisabeth Kaiser is from Gera, in the eastern state of Thuringia. When the federal commissioner for eastern Germany was born in 1987, Germany was still divided. Two years later, the  Berlin Wall fell, and on October 3, 1990, the communist GDR  became history. "I did not consciously experience the period of reunification, but the stories of my parents and grandparents have shaped me," Kaiser wrote in an annual report presented in Berlin just in time for the 35th anniversary of German Unity Day. For the 38-year-old member of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) this is a first, as she has only been in office since May 2025, when the new federal government was formed.

The pro-European party of Moldovan President Maia Sandu has won a new majority in parliament in elections seen as critical for her country's future path to the EU. Sandu had warned of "massive Russian interference" after voting, saying the future of her country, flanked by Ukraine and Romania, was at stake. Igor Grosu, the leader of Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), said it had been "an extraordinarily difficult battle" and that Russia had thrown "everything it had" at the election. PAS secured 50% of the vote, with 99.9% of the 1.6m votes counted, far ahead of the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc on under 25%. Turnout was 52%, higher than in recent years. One of the main opposition leaders, Igor Dodon, had claimed victory even before results came in and called for protests outside parliament on Monday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the result. "You made your choice clear: Europe. Democracy. Freedom," she wrote on X. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised Sandu, saying she had "saved democracy" and "stopped Russia in its attempts to take control over the whole region. A good lesson for us all". Recent Moldovan votes have been far closer, but soon after polls closed it became clear that Sandu's party was on course for another majority in the 101-seat parliament. Four years ago, the president's party won 52.8% of the vote, and based on latest results it is now set to clinch 55 seats. To form a government it will not need to rely on support from other parties, such as the Alternativa bloc or the populist Our Party.