The far right has broken European politics. If anyone ever had any doubts, the last few days should have provided the final proof. Exhibit A is Portugal, where the minority conservative government of Luis Montenegro fell prey to a vote of confidence, triggering Portugal's third election in three years. Exhibit B is Germany, where election winner Friedrich Merz lacks the majority to unlock a much-needed investment package. In desperation, he has called MPs of the old parliament back to Berlin and is trying to woo the opposition Greens to join his cause. Finally, there is Romania, where far-right candidate Calin Georgescu was leading in the presidential election race, until the Constitutional Court barred him from running this week, amid allegations of Russian election meddling. What do these cases have in common? The root cause of the instability is that far-right parties have eaten into the vote share of centrist parties to such an extent that their ability to make centrist policies is in serious danger. The same patterns are visible all over Europe. Read more. | 