MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has finally done something the far right approves of — calling a snap election on Nov. 29 that the anti-immigrant Vox party is hailing as “Spain’s last chance to be Spain again.”

Polling third in the race, Vox is Spain’s leading nationalist, euroskeptic force and it sees next month’s contest as its prime opportunity to remold the country after eight years of Sánchez’s socialist premiership by getting its people into top ministerial jobs.

Party leader Santiago Abascal greeted Monday’s election announcement as “excellent news.” His delight is hardly surprising given that polls suggest Vox is on track to make the biggest gains of any major party.

While the center-right People’s Party is expected to come first — with about 33% of the vote, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls — it will almost certainly have to team up with Vox, which commands support of about 18%, to build a stable coalition.

Abascal will then be able to demand the inclusion of key elements of Vox’s agenda as its price for that partnership. Its goals include deportations of undocumented migrants, a benefits preference for Spaniards over foreign nationals, slashing EU health and safety rules in the farming sector and rolling back support for gender equality and the LGBTQ+ community.

Vox secured 33 of the 350 seats in Congress in 2023, but is now set to double that. Under the PP’s coalition leadership, it should be able to form part of a comfortable majority.

“This time round, Vox is much stronger,” José Antonio Fúster, spokesperson for the party and a member of the Madrid regional parliament, said. “We are going into a very important election, not so much for us, as for Spaniards … This is the last hope for Spain to be Spain again.”

Fúster would not be drawn on which ministries his party has set its sights on, warning against “selling the bearskin before it has been hunted.”

Pointing to talks with the PP in recent months in four regions where the two parties now govern in coalition, he said the shaping of policy was being prioritized ahead of institutional power. “That is the last thing we negotiate because it is the least important,” he said.

Pet portfolios

In August, Vox MEP Jorge Buxadé told POLITICO that forming part of the government was not the only option open to his party, but that in a hypothetical coalition with the PP, his party would seek a number of ministries “in proportion to our vote share.”

That would amount to a significant percentage. If current polls translate into results in November, Vox would be in a position to claim about a third of ministerial posts.

Analysts expect Vox to press for portfolios that focus on its pet policies, such as agriculture, domestic policy, immigration and industry. The culture and education portfolios could also be of interest to the party, given their relevance in the hard right’s campaign against so-called wokeism.

The regions where the PP and Vox currently govern together — Andalusia, Aragón, Castile and León, and Extremadura — offer clues: The government departments that Vox controls are mainly linked to agriculture, welfare benefits and the family.

The party is heading into the election campaign espousing three main ideas: the concept of “national priority” — ensuring that Spaniards have access to public services and benefits ahead of foreign nationals — a clampdown on immigration and broad deregulation.

Although Vox’s rise to prominence was driven by its fierce stance against Catalan nationalism nearly a decade ago, that debate has faded from the political arena. Now, its focus is, like its European far-right counterparts, more firmly on immigration-related matters.

“Before, Vox talked about immigration, but it wasn’t the nuclear issue it has become,” said Guillermo Fernández Vázquez, a political scientist at Carlos III University and author of a book about the European far right. “Now, when Vox talks about social security payments, it talks about immigration; when it talks about the economy, it talks about immigration. Immigration is the issue that dictates everything.”

Vox also subscribes to the “remigration” policy being touted by many far-right parties, under which undocumented migrants and those who commit crimes would be deported. The PP has appeared to respond to Vox’s hard line by toughening its own stance, calling for the expulsion of foreign criminals and opposing a government migrant legalization program.

In each of the regions where the two parties are in coalition, Vox has ensured that its senior partner agreed to formally include the national priority principle in their governing agreement.

“But when it comes to national priority, the PP has added the caveat that it has to be implemented in line with the law,” said Miguel González, a journalist at the El País daily newspaper and author of a book about Vox. Legislation prevents discrimination against foreign nationals when it comes to accessing public benefits and services, meaning the policy is currently little more than symbolic in those regions. 

“In reality, in order to implement this properly, you’d have to change the immigration law,” González added.

Vox is eyeing an overhaul of that legislation to make it a workable policy.

“It’s very possible to change laws that are bad for Spaniards, so we have to roll them back and introduce new laws, making sure that Spaniards are not last in line,” Fúster said.

Deregulation nation

Deregulation also offers a platform from which to attack EU health-and-safety norms that are reviled by the farming sector, one of Vox’s main voter bases.

Fúster accepted that this could lead to clashes with the European Commission, but insisted that pressure from what he described as a rising tide of European parties sharing Vox’s values would “make sure that Brussels returns to the path of common sense.”

PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has criticized phytosanitary restrictions on farmers but has shown little appetite for conflict with European institutions.

In social policy, González said Vox might use the broader notion of deregulation to dismantle funding for gender equality and LGBTQ+ departments and projects, as it has done on a local level. Fúster was reluctant to be drawn on this: “We believe in the equality of Spaniards,” he said. “We don’t believe that anyone should have privileges above others.”

Fernández Vázquez of Carlos III University said that the origins of Vox suggest a bumpy ride for the PP. Vox would be the first far-right party to enter government in half a century since the death of Francisco Franco in 1975 — and there would likely be clashes.

The far-right party formed in 2013 as a breakaway from the conservatives in frustration at what its founders saw as the pusillanimity of the PP in the face of Catalan separatism. 

“I think the relationship between Vox and PP [in government] will be a bad one,” the researcher said. “Abascal and his colleagues are going to enjoy showing up Feijóo whenever they can, portraying him as lukewarm and weak.”

Fúster accepted “it could be a difficult relationship,” adding that the PP “don’t see things the way we do and we don’t share their vision.”

“We’re not willing to make concessions, we’re willing to have a frank, open and reasonable negotiation.”

But for now, the priority is simply to remove the Socialists. In his traditionally combative style, Abascal insisted the election was a chance to hold on to “the peace, prosperity and freedom that a mafioso government wants to snatch from us forever.”

Max Griera contributed to this article.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan faces demands from allies and adversaries alike to call a snap election, the first in the country’s modern history, if his latest attempt to end five months of political paralysis fails. 

The key NATO and EU member has lacked a fully functioning government since the coalition collapsed in May, and lawmakers have rejected a succession of Dan’s prime ministerial nominees. 

Political parties are now weighing up whether to support Dan’s latest prime ministerial candidate, the diplomat Luca Niculescu, who must win a confidence vote in parliament within the next nine days to be confirmed in the role. 

In an interview, Dan’s arch-rival on Romania’s hard right, George Simion, warned that no stable government can form without an election and accused the president of mounting a “blockade” against democracy because he is “afraid of us coming to power.” 

Speaking separately to POLITICO, Dan’s most recently defeated candidate for prime minister, Member of the European Parliament Siegfried Mureșan, warned the country was already paying an economic price, with investment decisions being delayed. “Postponing early elections and staying in this stalemate situation would, at some point, also have economic negative consequences,” he said. 

Bordering Ukraine, Romania has the sixth-largest population in the EU and plays a critical role in NATO’s defense of the region as home to a major military base and a U.S. missile shield site. The country has been plagued by political instability, corruption and a ballooning budget deficit in recent years, conditions that have fueled a surge in support for hard-right nationalist politics. 

Since the coalition fell apart amid infighting over budget cuts in the spring, Romania’s deadlocked parliament has been unable to agree on a new government. 

Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) leader Simion, a staunch euroskeptic who has called for a halt to aid for Ukraine, told POLITICO the president must face his duty and give voters a chance to end the stalemate with a fresh election, or face being ousted. His party has been leading Romania’s opinion polls for almost two years.

Simion has been building support in parliament to censure the president, which he believes will gain momentum if Niculescu fails and Dan again refuses to call fresh elections.

“Everybody says, ‘OK, if this won’t pass, we will go to snap elections,’ but they do not know Nicușor Dan as I do,” Simion said. The president is “very stubborn” and could defy calls for elections even if all parties want them, he said. “In that case we will have the numbers of signatures and votes to suspend him at least, if not sack him.” 

Dan has refused to contemplate handing AUR a role in government. He defeated Simion for the presidency last year and regards his rival’s politics as a threat to Romania’s pro-Western, pro-European direction. The president says he opposes a snap election because the campaign period would delay budget reforms and healthcare funding. 

‘A new Greece’

The Romanian leu has weakened against the euro in the months since the crisis blew up. Simion urged international investors to remain patient and sought to reassure them that AUR would be fiscally responsible if it won power. “Nobody wants a new Greece,” he said. “We will do everything it takes to respect our commitments to our international partners and for them to recover the debts.” 

The call for an early election is gaining traction in Bucharest.

So far, the leader of Dan’s former party, the Save Romania Union, has joined politicians from the National Liberal Party, and the leader of the Social Democratic Party and AUR, in suggesting an unprecedented emergency election could be required. 

Dan’s latest plan still has time to work, but political feuding between parties remains a problem. The Liberals say they could support Niculescu as prime minister if the Social Democrats do not get too much influence, while the Social Democrats say they want the PM-designate to take the country in a new direction — away from the austerity policies of the outgoing Liberal premier, Ilie Bolojan. 

Mureșan, a pro-EU Liberal and European People’s Party vice-president, said the economic risks of prolonging the crisis were real. He told POLITICO a snap election could be inevitable, though this is not his “preferred” option. “The political uncertainty which exists now in the country can easily transform into economic uncertainty,” Mureșan warned. “We are already now seeing investors holding back on their investments, waiting with major investment decisions before they have more certainty.” 

While Mureșan said he wants Dan to succeed, he criticized the delays in resolving the longest-running crisis since the fall of communism in 1989. “Had the president moved fast in appointing a prime minister in May and not delayed the nominations, we might even have had early elections [by] now, and we would be in a situation with a new parliament, and with a stable government with the four-year agenda,” he said.

“So, clearly, the options are narrowing down and are not getting better, following the prolongation of the political crisis.”

A senior diplomat will try to form a new government as Romania’s prime minister, in an attempt to end a five-month stalemate that threatens the country’s economic and political stability. 

President Nicușor Dan named Luca Niculescu, secretary of state in the foreign ministry, as prime minister-designate on Monday. He is the fourth candidate tasked with leading a government since the coalition collapsed in May. 

To be confirmed in the role, Niculescu will need to win a vote in Romania’s parliament within 10 days to show he has majority support for his new ministerial team and their program for government. 

His task is formidable: Amid bitter divisions between the parties, lawmakers rejected two of Dan’s previous nominees, and a third didn’t even make that far. Dan made his announcement after holding talks with the parties at Cotroceni Palace on Monday afternoon. 

After three previous candidates failed, the president is already facing calls to dissolve parliament for an unprecedented snap election. But he is reluctant to do so, fearing it would bring a far-right euroskeptic opposition party closer to power.

“My proposal for the position of prime minister is Luca Niculescu, a man who, as a diplomat, knows how to harmonize different positions,” Dan said on Monday evening. “It is necessary for Romania to have a government as soon as possible, because there are institutions that need rectification, and there is a need for a budget for next year. Prolonging the uncertainty will have effects on the lives of Romanians.” 

One politician who refused to take part in talks with Dan on Monday was George Simion, leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians party, which currently leads opinion polls. Simion — who challenged Dan for the presidency last year — reiterated his demand for an election to end the chaos. 

The president confirmed that the new government would have no place for parties that are anti-Western — which is his code for far-right groups, especially AUR. “I have the guarantee that a government with Luca Niculescu will maintain Romania’s pro-Western direction and will respect the financial targets and all the commitments that Romania has undertaken,” he said. 

Dan said the uncertainty was affecting exchange rates, interest rates and investments in Romania. Over the past four years, Niculescu has led Romania’s accession process to the OECD, a major milestone in the country’s development. Dan said his candidate would have the freedom to decide whether the government was “political or technocratic.” 

Accepting the nomination, Niculescu said Romania was grappling with a “long” period of uncertainty at a difficult time. “The first mission will be to build a parliamentary majority that will vote for a government that will be deeply anchored in Romania’s European and Euro-Atlantic direction,” he said. “I will have discussions with the parliamentary parties to build this majority and to agree on a realistic governing program.”