2025 proved to be a pivotal year for high-stakes elections across the European Union.
Romania found itself at the centre of coordinated foreign interference campaigns on social media, while Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk failed to consolidate his party’s position against conservatives in the presidential race.
And while the Christian Democrats returned to power in Germany, right-wing billionaire Andrej Babiš was re-elected in the Czech Republic.
Now, the EU is entering 2026 with Russia’s war in Ukraine continuing on its eastern flank. With member states divided on how best to support Kyiv and tensions rising between the bloc and the US, the year’s major elections could once again transform Europe’s political and geopolitical standing.
Euronews takes a look at the key electoral tests awaiting the EU in the year ahead.
Hungary: End of the Orbán era?
2026 could see the end of the longest continuous spell in power in the EU.
Viktor Orbán first served as Hungary’s prime minister between 1998 and 2002, and has reigned since his re-election in 2010. In the race for his sixth term in office, he faces a serious challenger: Péter Magyar, a former Fidesz insider turned opposition leader.
Orbán’s party, Fidesz, and Magyar’s Tisza party do not differ significantly on societal issues such as LGBTQ+ rights or migration, but Magyar is arguing strongly for improving Hungarians’ purchasing power, currently one of the lowest in Europe, and for better relations with Brussels, which still conditions multi-million cohesion fund payments on respect for the rule of law.
His campaign appears to be striking a chord: the latest polls put Tisza 13 points ahead. But whatever the outcome, the vote will have ramifications far beyond Hungary’s borders.
Orbán sits at the centre of Europe’s national-conservative camp, aligning closely with US President Donald Trump’s worldview and openly challenging mainstream EU positions on migration, democratic standards and in particular the war in Ukraine.
Budapest’s reluctance to sanction Moscow or support Kyiv has deepened divisions within the bloc. A change of leadership could reshuffle the power dynamics within the European Council at a crucial moment for Ukraine’s future.
Spain, Germany, France and Italy: Local reckonings for national governments
Four of the EU’s largest powers are bracing for regional and municipal elections that will confirm just how much momentum the far right has, and provide a temperature check on growing distrust of the authorities in Madrid, Berlin, Paris and Rome.
In Spain, the socialist PSOE party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is reeling from its defeat in the 21 December regional election in Extremadura, netting its worst ever result in what was a traditional stronghold.
Meanwhile, in Madrid, Sánchez’s ruling coalition is under pressure after several corruption scandals and is struggling to pass a budget for the third consecutive year.
Upcoming regional elections in Aragon on 8 February, Castilla y León on 15 March, and Andalusia, Spain’s largest region by size and population, latest on 30 June, will all be crucial tests not only for the PSOE but also for the centre-right opposition People’s Party (PP).
The question is whether the PP can secure majorities ahead of the 2027 general election without relying on support from the far-right Vox party.
Also on 15 and 22 March, the French will go to the polls to elect mayors across the country – and just like in Spain, these local elections will serve as a gauge ahead of the 2027 presidential vote.
France is currently facing a political crisis of protracted government instability, record-low approval ratings for President Emmanuel Macron, and the continued rise of the far-right National Rally (RN) despite its leader Marine Le Pen being barred from standing for office.
In Italy, municipal elections in major cities of Rome, Milan, Bologna and Turin were postponed during the pandemic and rescheduled for spring 2027. Instead, voters will head to the polls in 2026 only in a smaller number of cities such as Venice, Reggio Calabria, Arezzo, Andria and Pistoia.
Italians will also vote on a referendum on a constitutional reform of the justice system. It will be submitted next spring but the date is yet to be determined. It will be seen as a test of public backing for Meloni’s coalition ahead of the 2027 general election.
Finally, several German states are preparing for regional elections: Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate in March, and Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in September.
These state elections will test the popularity of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has held office since May, and will also measure the rise of the far right not only in the deindustrialised former East Germany but also in the wealthier West.
Sweden: Shadow of foreign interference
Looking forward to September’s general election, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that “when Sweden goes to the polls next year, we will do so in a serious security situation that we have to take into account”.
Kristersson is governing a coalition of centrists, socialists, liberals, and Christian Democrats, which is currently polling at levels similar to its 2023 election results.
Since then, Sweden has been facing a rise in violent crime, fuelling right-wing rhetoric heard across Europe in which the phenomenon is often emphasised to provide fodder for anti-migration arguments.
But “serious security situation” that worries the prime minister is the threat of foreign interference.
In November, the defence ministry said it had boosted its cybersecurity capabilities and was on alert for election meddling such as that seen in Germany, which insisted this year that Russia would “pay a price” for its “hybrid attacks” on election infrastructure.
Such foreign interference operations are likely to benefit parties critical of immigration, sceptical of EU integration, and more ambiguous in their stance towards Moscow, a tendency exemplified by the Sweden Democrats.
Sweden’s election is expected to be a test of democratic resilience in the EU following the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which tackles election interference on social media, and the bloc’s proposed Democracy Shield.
Denmark: Under pressure, at home and abroad
After losing Copenhagen for the first time since 1938, Mette Frederiksen and her Social Democrats will now face a national vote.
Analysts say Frederiksen’s tough stance on immigration did not pay off. Polls indicate that the prime minister, who has been in power since 2019, could lose her position, with the ruling coalition which comprises parties from the centre-left to the centre-right appearing increasingly fragile.
Denmark is also concerned about its territorial integrity. Earlier this month, Trump reiterated his expansionist intentions regarding Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The vote should take place before October 2026, but the date has not yet been confirmed.
Bulgaria: No government, but the euro is coming soon
As of 1 January 2026, Bulgaria will officially adopt the euro as its currency. However, the country has been experiencing significant political instability since November, following the government’s resignation amid large street protests over corruption and oligarchic influence.
A presidential election is already scheduled for 8 November, and a parliamentary vote is also expected to resolve the political deadlock.
Latvia and Slovenia: Possible new heads of state
Slovenia and Latvia will hold parliamentary elections in March and October respectively.
In Slovenia, polls show the centre-right opposition Democratic Party slightly ahead of the current ruling Freedom Movement, a centre-left party led by Prime Minister Robert Golob. Analysts estimate that forming a government after the election could be difficult, as several new and smaller parties are entering the race.
In Latvia, the election will determine who will succeed the current centre-right coalition led by Prime Minister Evika Siliņa. Her party is currently in second place in the polls, just behind the conservative National Alliance.
Earlier in 2025, local elections revealed weaknesses in the voting IT system, but the Latvian Central Election Commission says it has resolved them ahead of the October vote.
US, Brazil, Israel and Russia: Global elections with EU implications
The EU is not just at the mercy of its own voters.
In November 2026, US voters will head to the polls for the Congressional midterm elections, which determine the makeup of the US House of Representatives and one-third of the US Senate seats.
The outcome could decide how much power the Trump administration can wield at home and abroad.
Europeans will be watching closely. Earlier this month, the US administration published a National Security Strategy in which it vowed to “cultivate resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations” to stop its “civilisational decline”.
Brazilians will head to the polls in October 2026. Current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the favourite in the polls, is seeking re-election.
The EU’s stake in this vote lies in the future of the Mercosur agreement, a free trade agreement more than two decades in the making.
Israel will also hold parliamentary elections and vote for its prime minister, potentially changing the power dynamics that have shaped conflicts in the region.
Finally, Russians will vote in parliamentary elections – but the outcome is expected to be rigged in President Vladimir Putin’s favour, with opposition parties largely silenced and press freedom increasingly scarce.
Stay with Euronews in 2026 and follow our coverage of developments across the European Union and beyond.
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