Ania SKRZYPEK

Director for Research and Training

The sense of Eastern discomfort that the European progressive family noted after the last European election is slowly transforming into the realisation of a disaster. The recent elections in Hungary saw the long-awaited and hoped-for rejection of the Orbán regime. It was enthusiastically applauded across the Union, but it left a bitter aftertaste for the centre-left, which now has no representation in parliament. Neither does it in Bulgaria, Latvia and the Czech Republic.

The centre-left becoming the outcasts, at least for now, of the representative democracy is a powerful image. The impression is so strong that it prompts a generalisation about the collapse of Social Democracy across the entire region, overshadowing the fact that in Lithuania LSDP leads the government, in Poland Progressives are part of it, and in Slovenia they are in the governing coalition. It is legitimate to seek a more nuanced view, as well as ask to what extent this doomsday scenario is unnecessary defeatism that, in turn, disempowers broader thinking about the progressive potential that still exists in those and other countries.

Can one dare to think that in Central and Eastern Europe, the metamorphosis of the political systems is faster and more dramatic, because of their shorter democratic history? And instead of talking about collapsing parties and their faults, one may rather see parties in transition. Accepting these premises can offer a useful gateway to look beyond the current electoral figures and conceptualise a new programmatic, as well as organisational formula capable of convincing the voters who yearn for more equality, social progress and prosperity.

Beyond unhelpful shortcuts

Central and Eastern European progressive parties are often viewed as a quasi-homogeneous group, which they are not. This image disregards that there are parties that, almost four decades ago, rose from the post-communist ashes, as well as historical ones (whose traditions are as long as those in Austria, Germany or elsewhere) and new ones that attempted to create left-wing alternatives after the fall of the previous regimes. Therefore, their roles in transforming their respective countries’ political systems were dissimilar. And equally, their search for their role as agents of social progress has followed different paths. 

And there is an additional lesson from the previous transition that can be instructive amid the current transformation. In their previous search for a new programmatic framing, many parties in the region were inclined to follow the examples set by Western sister parties. In part, this was to gain their recognition and approval, paving the way to membership in the Socialist International and the PES family, and, in part, to become powerhouses of modernisation. This brought many of them electoral victories and led to an overwhelming progressive majority in the European Council early this century. But it quickly became clear that the SPD’s, Labour’s, or SAP’s programs cannot simply be translated and applied to any national context in Central and Eastern Europe.

There is an important lesson for the movement. Social Democracy has definitely seen better days than now. When there are so many impulses to renew, to show strength and to mobilise globally, there needs to be an understanding that the aspired re-foundation must follow the principle of unity in diversity. And that means shared values and principles, while accepting that each sister party has a unique character that amalgamates the progressive universal DNA with the national specificity, giving each party a competitive edge in its own local, regional and even European elections. In other words, it is not about a single formula that can work in Estonia, Slovenia or any other CEE country. It is about support and solidarity with each and every sister party, and about understanding that, in this time of transition, each of them needs to be responsible for finding their own ways to gain voters’ favour.

The defining pillars

The notion of (re)emerging as a viable option may be the right compass for navigating party system transformations and becoming a noteworthy alternative. Consequently, it is time to cease the conversations about transfers of electorates and to turn to the ‘rightwingisation’ of the entire party landscape. To use a field game comparison, this is very much about playing other people’s games and blocking the strikers with defenders, rather than thinking about covering a zone that would make the attack impossible. One cannot reverse the past, but one can conceptualise a political conquest, and mastering three distinct political issues could make a difference. 

The first is the cost-of-living crisis, which is the top issue across Europe, according to a recent Eurobarometer report. In the diverse CEE countries, it may be defined differently, as it is the region with the largest increases in nominal minimum wages. Still, it is also the region where citizens feel worse off than their neighbours in ‘old Europe’. This perception matters, as it feeds into the sense of disappointment and inequality, even though Eurofund points out that in many CEE countries, wealth inequality is lower than in the West. Where does this perception come from? This leads to point two: in those countries, there is a sense of a failed public sphere (including public services) and high levels of distrust in public institutions at the local, regional and national levels. At the same time, these societies are still the most pro-European, which is connected to the third point: support for integration is more about a willingness to become a full member of a community than about implementing specific policies. In all these countries, a sense of pessimism prevails – not uncommon across the rest of Europe – and is marked by fear of the war in Ukraine and its impact, which is felt more intensively in Eastern Europe due to geographical proximity. In addition, a feeling of disempowerment prevails among young people, who leave their parents’ home later and later, indicating that they have lost autonomy over life choices: how and where to live, work and set up a family. 

The political proposals that attracted voters lately have either been (more) authoritarian, based on a strong, controlling national state or leaning towards neo-liberalism, which still resonates with electorates in the region, who perceive it as tied to openness, connection with the EU and the economy. So, while it looks like a strategic vote on what kind of state should emerge, perhaps the vital component that still leaves space for the centre-left to build on is the transformative state, characterised by economic democracy, commitment to social progress and a more consultative, participatory government.

Therefore, to succeed in building trust, in themselves as well as in their project, there needs to be a sense of ownership that comes from grassroots mobilisation and reconnecting with diverse people. There can be no shortcuts; it is and will be a lengthy mission that must be carried out diligently, always mindful of the other political competitors. The objective is not a quick fix or image repair, which would not work, but a genuine refoundation that will befit the progressive aspirations of societies in this region and help turn this transitional moment into a historical crossroads, culminating in the successful transformation of the centre-left formula.

Photo credits: Shutterstock/Belish