Damn. If someone would have given me this map a few years ago, I would have gone to where the fish are!
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Looks very mysterious. What has happened with women in Slovenia, parts of Bulgaria, Finland, Sweden?
Careful, careful. Those areas of Finland and Sweden are sparsely populated and the political units are huge. 10 women less and itâs already 1% down 
I know Iâm exaggerating, I only want to bring the point home of small populations being sensitive to relatively small changes and the large political unit is a huge color blob in the map. But that doesnât mean is more âsignificantâ or lots of people.
Slovenia and Bulgaria are more relevant because higher populations density. Anyway, careful. What we see in the maps at this scale is rural areas. The urban areas may be to small for a map of this scale. So, what could have happened? Women may have gone to the cities.
The reason I pointed to this data is to give some context for the disquiet in the ex-DDRâŠerrrr, neue BundeslĂ€nder. Itâs may not be the arrival of weird immigrants, it may be the young love leaving to never come back. It should be like one of those old frontier towns full of miners or oil workers.
Why stay home when you could go abroad and marry an orange-skinned businessman who had dreams of becoming US president?
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Absolutely loving the zoom-in of Switzerland where the eastern half is dominated by a green âmoderate lack of womenâ surrounding a wee red blodge around Schwyz/Glarner-(ish) of âmoderate surplus of menâ. 
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Howâs the rise of the far right in Europe doing today? 
Italian activist Ilaria Salis is set to be released from detention in Hungary following her election as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
The 40-year-old teacher spent 15 months in prison after being accused of assaulting far-right demonstrators in Hungary. Salis, maintaining her innocence, was faced with the possibility of a 20-year prison sentence.
French conservatives on Wednesday, June 12, said they had removed the head of their party, Eric Ciotti, for striking an alliance with the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) ahead of snap elections.
Les RĂ©publicains (LR) political committee voted unanimously to oust Ciotti, MP Annie Genevard said, adding that the party âwill present candidates to the French public with clarity and independenceâ at snap elections called by President Emmanuel Macron for June 30 and July 7.
Speaking on CNews TV channel on Wednesday evening, Ciotti, freshly expelled from LR, said he was âand remains presidentâ of the party. âOnly the militants could deny me this legitimacy,â he said.
Yes, in a country out of EU, where the âpopulistsâ are part of the government and have 30% seats in the parliament.
Sorting the wheat from the chaff.
France for the French! 
I didnât expect âRenewâ to have such a massive loss of votes.
Anyway, I know a couple of people who voted with some imbeciles just out of spite for the âyes menâ in the mainstream parties. Itâs sad, but I think many of those who turned to the right have voted this way as a form of protest or something. Of course, there might be people in this segment of the electorate with serious (unsavoury) convictions but most of this change is due to people being fed up with the status quo.
Isnât it nice to see so much interest here coming from folks who canât actually vote in the European elections? 
@marton, one from your friend Viktor 
âMake Europe great again!â (he probably means Europe for Europeans)
The minister explained Hungary would use its presidency to introduce a new competitive, âfarmer-centeredâ agricultural deal and seek âmore efficient protection of the external borders, to manage root causes of migration â and to improve a more efficient policy of return.â
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The horror! 
You donât really care about other people though, do you? I have the feeling you canât even vote in the European elections so whatâs your concern? On the one hand youâd like to see EU crushed and weak, on the other one you pretend to be worried about the way it functions. Itâs hilarious.
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Honestly I just enjoy mocking the incompetence and stupidity of such an organisation and those who support its often ridiculous policies.
Also I like laughing about it when it blows up in their faces.
Grapes are sour, eh? 
But itâs refreshing to see you have a moment of âhonestyâ and finally admit youâre commenting here for the lols. Exactly what I said.
Of course, I donât think I ever said otherwise 
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A question made by Corriere della Sera to Mrs. Le Pen by end of May 2024:
CdS: And what do you feel like saying to Meloni?
Le Pen: «I think you and I agree on the essential issues, among which is regaining control of our respective countries. Then it is the people who decide, we must always remember this. But now is the time to join, it would be really helpful. If we succeed we can become the second group in the European Parliament. I think we shouldnât miss an opportunity like this."
So far, Mrs. Meloni supports a stronger EU, support to Ukraine, stronger NATO. Choose the explanation you like: i) believe her words âthe world changed in Feb 2022â, ii) a politician that realized extreme positions never gather enough support to rule a whole country, so why not concede a bit in order to be more popular?
The issue here is that Mrs. Le Pen has also changed along time. No more talk about France leaving the EU, 2017 seems like an eternity ago. Also from 2017, quit the EURO. Itâs almost like Mrs. Le Pen and her party are moving to the center in order to gain popularity.
So, Mrs. Le Pen has a crossroads ahead. Go full Frexit or enjoy the win while sticking to the center.
.
An interesting development from our eastern friends HungaryÂŽs Orban, AustriaÂŽs Kickl and Czech Babis after founding a new far right party in the EU parlament.
Polish your jackboots guys and brush up your Erika, Europe is looking back for the future.
He was excluded from the centre-right EPP and probably doesnât want the same things as Meloni and Le Pen. The more divided the extremes, the better.
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Her party is still pretty nationalist and anti-immigration though.
And whilst there is some truth to what you say and they have softened some positions somewhat, some of their other positions/views are also becoming more mainstream so itâs a two-way street.
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