Domestic Politics

Portugal's centre-left Socialists won an outright parliamentary majority in Sunday's snap general election, securing a strong new mandate for Prime Minister Antonio Costa. Speaking after results from exit polls were announced, Costa said the party had won 117 or 118 seats in the 230-seat parliament, up from 108 won in the 2019 election, and his supporters erupted in loud celebrations, singing old revolutionary anthem "Grandola" and waving flags.

Messages of congratulations are pouring in from all over Europe and beyond to the Palazzo del Qurinale in Rome following the news that Sergio Mattarella has been re-elected as president of Italy for a second term, breaking a political stalemate that threatened to bring the country to a new political crisis. 

2023 will be a crucial elections year in Turkey, and their is no certainty that president Erdogan and his AK Party can maintain there hold on power, argues Benyamin Poghosyan in this op-ed. The stakes are high and political turmoil will have implications way beyond Turkey itself.

In a statement issued to the media on Sunday evening (23 January), Sargissian indicated that he was frustrated at the lack of power of the presidency, which under the current Armenian constitution is largely an honorary position. In his statement Sargissian said, "the President does not have the necessary tools to influence the radical processes of domestic and foreign policy in these difficult times for the country and the nation."

The European Union (EU) has allocated 268.3 million euros to support the Afghan population through the current major humanitarian crisis. Through the United Nations, projects are being funded that focus on access to education and health care, and help to provide livelihoods for civilians, including refugees and displaced persons.