Europe faces a string of political and financial events that may lead to further instability in a region already battered by the effects of multiple crises.
A lack of European tools, scarcity of national resources and the inability to treat symptoms, have distracted European political elites from the roots of the many crises that have befallen them in the last seven years. Frustration and disenchantment have fueled the spread of radical anti-establishment parties advocating potentially destabilizing populist policies. If the present political class wants to remain relevant, they need to decide whether to leap forward towards further European integration or completely reverse the course set after WWII. Several events across may occur in European countries in the next 9 months and these will probably result in more of the electorate slipping away from established elites.
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Austria to Repeat Tense Presidential Vote
Austria was scheduled to re-run the second turn of its presidential election on October 2nd (it has now been delayed to until at least December due to ballot irregularities). The election pits pro-Europe Green party candidate Alexander Van der Bellen in a close race against the Eurosceptic anti-immigration Free Party of Austria’s (FPO) Norbert Hofer. May’s result, which saw the establishment’s Van der Bellen narrowly defeat right-winger Hofer, was annulled on July 1st by the Austrian Constitutional Court on account of substantial electoral irregularities. Recent polls suggest that the intervening period did nothing to clarify voter preference and the race remains tight.
This post was published at FinancialSense on 09/13/2016.
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