Morning opening: Big election weekend
Jakub Krupa
It was a big weekend for election watchers around Europe!
Slovenia’s incumbent liberal prime minister Robert Golob claimed victory in parliamentary elections on Sunday, as results put his party just slightly ahead of the populist conservatives led by Trump-ally Janez Janša.
With 99.85% of the votes counted, Golob’s liberal party stood at 28.62% and the conservatives of veteran politician Janša at 27.95%, AFP reported.
The result will come as relief for Brussels as it puts Golob’s party on course to get 29 seats, just ahead of 28 for Janša, and will put the incumbent in a position to lead the tricky exploratory talks to form the next government.
“Since we have received the (people’s) confidence, now we can think about going forward under a free sun,” Golob told his supporters last night, inviting other parties to discuss next steps.
Meanwhile, we also had big elections in France, where the Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire has been elected mayor of Paris, and Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) failed to take key cities targeted in Sunday’s second round of local elections.
Over in Germany, the chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats won an election in Rhineland-Palatinate, taking control over the state from their coalition partners, Social Democrats.
Early projections after polls closed showed Merz’s CDU at 30.8% of the vote, ahead of the SPD at 26%, pointing to a victory for Merz after his party narrowly lost an election in the neighbouring state of Baden-Württemberg earlier this month, Reuters said.
The two parties are now expected to form a coalition at the state level on the lines of the coalition in Berlin.
Finally, we will be looking at the day two of the national referendum on judiciary reforms in Italy today, with the polling stations open until 2pm UK time (3pm local).
Italy’s electorate will vote yes or no to approving amendments to the country’s post-fascism constitution that would shake up the organisation of the justice system. But what is in essence a ballot on a technical and complex change has morphed into a de facto confidence vote on Meloni’s government before a general election in 2027.
After 12 hours of voting on Sunday, turnout topped 46%, with early suggestions it could help Meloni’s yes campaign. Let’s keep an eye on this today.
Oh, and the Danish election is happening tomorrow, too!
Lots for us to cover.
It’s Monday, 23 March 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
Trump lauds Viktor Orbán as Europe’s far-right leaders gather in Budapest
Jon Henley
Europe correspondent
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has endorsed Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who faces his toughest electoral challenge next month since taking power 16 years ago, as Europe’s far-right leaders gather for a “grand assembly” in Budapest.
In a video message, the US president told the national-conservative Cpac Hungary conference in the capital on Saturday that Orbàn, who has been trailing in the polls behind a centre-right rival for more than a year, was a “fantastic guy”.
Trump, who also backed Orbán on social media last month, said he had been a strong leader who had “shown the entire world what’s possible when you defend your borders, your culture, your heritage, your sovereignty and your values”.
“I hope he wins, and I hope he wins big,” Trump said.
Several leading European far-right figures, including Santiago Abascal of Spain’s Vox, André Ventura of Portugal’s Chega, Martin Helme of Estonia’s Ekre and Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland’s Law and Justice party, attended the weekend event.
But there is more to come as they will be joined on Monday by Marine Le Pen of France’s National Rally, Matteo Salvini of Italy’s League and Geert Wilders of the Dutch Freedom party for a “Patriots’ Grand Assembly”, named after their group in the European parliament.
Former French prime minister Lionel Jospin dies at 88
Meanwhile, France is mourning the death of its former prime minister Lionel Jospin, a Socialist who introduced the 35-hour work week and civil partnerships for gay couples, who died aged 88, AFP reported.
Jospin – who was head of government from 1997 to 2002 before losing to the far-right in presidential polls – died on Sunday, the family told the agency.
He had said he had a “serious operation” and had returned home to rest in January, without providing details.
‘Match ends when referee blows whistle,’ Italian foreign minister says in call to vote
In an unexpected early morning football reference, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani also encouraged Italians to vote in the referendum, with a quote from the legendary Yugoslavian football player and later manager Vujadin Boškov “the match ends when the referee blows the whistle.”
“Voting is open today, too, until 3 pm,” he said, posting a picture of himself casting a ballot.
‘Participation is important,’ Meloni tells Italians ahead of final hours of judiciary reform referendum
Meanwhile, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has urged Italians to take part in the referendum on the government’s proposals to shake up the organisation of the justice system.
On her social media accounts, she posted a picture posing with a ballot paper, and said:
“Ready to vote. Remember: you have until 3 PM today to get to the polls. Participation is important.”
Defence minister Guido Crosetto also backed her call, urging voters to take part in the referendum.
“There should be no excuse for not going to the polls to vote. Those who don’t go are giving others the opportunity to choose their future. There is no commitment or activity more important than deciding the rules by which we will live,” he said.
Morning opening: Big election weekend
Jakub Krupa
It was a big weekend for election watchers around Europe!
Slovenia’s incumbent liberal prime minister Robert Golob claimed victory in parliamentary elections on Sunday, as results put his party just slightly ahead of the populist conservatives led by Trump-ally Janez Janša.
With 99.85% of the votes counted, Golob’s liberal party stood at 28.62% and the conservatives of veteran politician Janša at 27.95%, AFP reported.
The result will come as relief for Brussels as it puts Golob’s party on course to get 29 seats, just ahead of 28 for Janša, and will put the incumbent in a position to lead the tricky exploratory talks to form the next government.
“Since we have received the (people’s) confidence, now we can think about going forward under a free sun,” Golob told his supporters last night, inviting other parties to discuss next steps.
Meanwhile, we also had big elections in France, where the Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire has been elected mayor of Paris, and Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) failed to take key cities targeted in Sunday’s second round of local elections.
Over in Germany, the chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats won an election in Rhineland-Palatinate, taking control over the state from their coalition partners, Social Democrats.
Early projections after polls closed showed Merz’s CDU at 30.8% of the vote, ahead of the SPD at 26%, pointing to a victory for Merz after his party narrowly lost an election in the neighbouring state of Baden-Württemberg earlier this month, Reuters said.
The two parties are now expected to form a coalition at the state level on the lines of the coalition in Berlin.
Finally, we will be looking at the day two of the national referendum on judiciary reforms in Italy today, with the polling stations open until 2pm UK time (3pm local).
Italy’s electorate will vote yes or no to approving amendments to the country’s post-fascism constitution that would shake up the organisation of the justice system. But what is in essence a ballot on a technical and complex change has morphed into a de facto confidence vote on Meloni’s government before a general election in 2027.
After 12 hours of voting on Sunday, turnout topped 46%, with early suggestions it could help Meloni’s yes campaign. Let’s keep an eye on this today.
Oh, and the Danish election is happening tomorrow, too!
Lots for us to cover.
It’s Monday, 23 March 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/mar/23/local-eu-elections-slovenia-italy-france-latest-updates-news
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