Eurotopics.net

After Azerbaijan's military takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh, the structures of the internationally non-recognised Republic of Artsakh are being dissolved. The authorities have declared that "all state institutions and organisations" will be dismantled by 1 January 2024. The vast majority of the approximately 120,000 ethnic Armenians who inhabited the region have now fled.

Ex-Prime Minister Robert Fico has emerged the clear winner of Slovakia's parliamentary election. His left-wing nationalist Smer party won 22.9 percent of the vote, followed by the liberal Progresívné Slovensko with 18 percent. He will, however, need coalition partners to form a government. Commentators wonder whether Fico will follow up on his harsh rhetoric in the election campaign.

Two weeks before Poland's parliamentary elections around one million people followed opposition leader Donald Tusk's call to demonstrate for a change of government in Warsaw on Sunday. With the exception of the nationalist Konfederacja all opposition parties want to form a coalition to replace the PiS, which has been in power since 2015. The polls point to a close election result.

In a speech to the Corsican regional parliament, French President Emmanuel Macron held out the prospect of more autonomy for the Mediterranean island. An "autonomy à la corse" - within the republic - would be a desirable, he said. Macron was reacting to the growing support for Corsican nationalists and a wave of violence following the fatal injury of the nationalist Yvan Colonna in spring 2022.