Students keep the pressure on ruling party in Serbia
Student protesters will take to the streets in Serbia this weekend in the first major demonstrations this year against President Aleksandar Vučić. Students have become a significant political force in Serbia over the last two years: in 2025, then-Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned after anti‑corruption protests led by students brought an estimated 100,000 people to the streets of Belgrade. Many Serbians remain frustrated with what they see as democratic backsliding since the Serbian Progressive Party came to power in 2012. The country is even at risk of losing more than $1.8 billion in European Union funds earmarked for aspiring member states that meet certain democratic reform goals — the bloc has criticized Serbia’s past crackdown on protests and continued ties to Russia. This new round of protests is certain to put additional pressure on Vučić’s party ahead of national elections scheduled for this fall.
Dems finally release election autopsy – but few are happy
“I am not proud of this product,” Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin wrote of his party’s autopsy over their 2024 election loss, after releasing it yesterday. It’s easy to see why: the report makes no mention of the party infighting over the Gaza war – one of several cleavages within the party – omits any reference to former President Joe Biden’s age, and fails to even have a conclusion. There’s also no reference to former Vice President Kamala Harris’s media struggles (like her initial refusal to hold interviews or inability to make a distinction between herself and Biden). What it does say, however, is that the Democrats failed to make a strong enough case for why Harris should hold the top job. Given the furor surrounding the report and the critical reaction to its contents, the only outcome of this report could be that it exacerbates the party's internal divisions.
For more on what Democrats have (or haven’t) learned from the 2024 defeat, watch Ian Bremmer’s interview with former White House Chief of Staff (and potential 2028 presidential candidate) Rahm Emanuel here.
Are US troops leaving Europe or not?
Three weeks ago, US President Donald Trump said he was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany. The move was seen as retaliation for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s criticism of Trump’s Iran war, but it also fit with the US leader’s larger aim of reducing American defense obligations to Europe. Then two weeks ago, the White House said that rather than withdrawing all those troops from Germany, it would “temporarily” cancel the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland. The Poles were not happy. Now Trump says, actually, the US is sending 5,000 troops to Poland, a country that is rapidly boosting its military capacity and which his Defense secretary has called “a model ally.” The Pentagon said earlier this week that the policy on troop deployments in Europe is coming out of a “comprehensive, multilayered process,” but the tension between “we’re leaving!” and “we’re staying but only in countries we like!” leaves the future US defense posture in Europe clear as mud.
