Elections in the US, Israel, Serbia, Bulgaria and Brazil could reshape global politics
Recent elections in the US, Israel, Serbia, Bulgaria and Brazil may affect world politics. Delfi's "Komandcentrs" programme discusses them with two international relations experts.
Over recent days and weeks, several countries have held elections whose outcomes could affect the political future of Latvia, Europe and the wider world. Delfi's programme "Komandcentrs" discusses them at 4 p.m., when host Ansis Īvāns talks to Sintija Broka-Kovalevska, head of international relations at the analytics group "Powerhouse Latvija", and Toms Rātfelders, a lecturer at Riga Stradiņš University and researcher at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs.
US and Israel
The US midterm congressional elections took place on 3 November. Even before the vote, opinion polls had predicted a win for the opposition Democratic Party. Voter discontent with the Republican Party and President Donald Trump's administration has been fuelled by scandals and by fuel prices that rose sharply after the president launched a war with Iran.
Trump's ally in that war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, failed on 27 October to win enough support in parliamentary elections to keep governing without changes to his coalition. However, the opposition bloc of Jewish parties led by former army commander Gadi Eisenkot also could not win enough votes to topple Netanyahu without the backing of Arab parties.
Europe
Serbia held snap parliamentary elections after two years of student protests against corruption. The party of longtime leader Aleksandar Vučić, who is seen as pro-Russian, lost to the "Student List". It is unclear whether this will change Serbia's geopolitical direction: the list is regarded as a pro-European force, yet its leaders have not promised to cut ties with Russia or recognise Kosovo's independence.
In Bulgaria, Iliana Yotova won the second round of the presidential election on 1 November convincingly. She was backed by the Eurosceptic, pro-Russian ruling party "Progressive Bulgaria". Her rival was Andrey Gyurov, put forward by the pro-Western opposition.
Brazil
Presidential elections ended in late October in Brazil, South America's largest country. The winner was 81-year-old socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. His opponent was Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of Trump, is serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup after losing an earlier election. Flávio Bolsonaro fled to the US shortly after his defeat.
