A motley alliance of socialists, liberals and conservatives won the 9 December Romanian parliamentary elections. What they clearly share is profound dislike for the country's once-powerful president, Traian Basescu, whose five-year mandate continues into 2014. What is less obvious is how they will govern the country.

Combining support for the welfare state with xenophobic populist sentiments, The Finns have clouded and shaken the traditionally straightforward Finnish political landscape. Beyond this textbook example of mainstream recognition for a previously radical faction, what do the Finns really stand for?

Nearly 20 percent of Sicily’s electorate voted for Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement (M5S) – an alternative “clean hands” party that has recently gained momentum in Italian politics. Their candidate, the comedian and blogger Giancarlo Cancelleri, seduced Sicilian voters with a fresh - and anti-establishment - approach to politics.

In Italy, a consensus is slowly building around a second term for Mario Monti's technocratic government – but could this have less to do with national unity in economically difficult times than with political elites in a last-ditch defence against the threat of Beppe Grillo's populism?

The combination of economic troubles and Eurosceptic pressures will increase the international impact of the Netherlands' latest election, says Cas Mudde.

... who happened to become Greece’s Finance Minister yesterday…

The new French president has consolidated his authority with a decisive win in the legislative elections. But the challenges he faces now get much steeper