The 2019 EU Elections: Moving the Center

Issue Date October 2019
Volume 30
Issue 4
Page Numbers 20-34
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The 2019 European elections brought the transformation wrought by the so-called “refugee crisis” of 2015–16 deeper into the heart of EU institutions. Right-wing Euroskeptics took between a quarter and a third of the seats in the European Parliament, with populist radical-right parties making the biggest gains. But the strengthening of the populist radical right is only the most visible aspect of a more fundamental transformation of European politics—a transformation whose elements also include shifting voter priorities, a sea change in mainstream-party agendas, and the growing influence of Hungarian premier and “illiberal democracy” booster Viktor Orbán.

About the Author

Cas Mudde is the Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF Professor of International Affairs at the School of Public and International Affairs of the University of Georgia and Professor II at the Center for Research on Extremism of the University of Oslo. His most recent books include Populism: A Very Short Introduction (with Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, 2017) and The Far Right Today (2019). He is also a columnist for the GuardianUS.

View all work by Cas Mudde