In bne IntelliNews, Clare Nuttall wrote that populist, authoritarian and extremist parties won more than half the vote in the latest parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, Czechia, Romania and Slovakia, according to the Authoritarian Populism Index 2026 by Timbro and the EPICENTER network. The article highlights that seven of the ten countries where challenger parties are strongest are post-communist, and that almost one in three European voters now backs such parties, roughly three times the level seen for most of the post-war era. It also notes the Index’s finding that, by summer 2026, challengers sat in 11 of the 31 governments covered, with participation in power moderating some parties, emboldening others and contributing to the collapse of coalitions elsewhere.