2025 elections and outcomes: Europe

See the elections taking place in Europe this year. This post will be updated with outcomes as the elections are completed.

Visit BAL’s Global Election Hub for more information on 2025 elections around the world.

Croatia

DATE OF ELECTION January 12.

TYPE OF ELECTION Presidential election. Croatia’s constitution is structured with the President as a ceremonial role as to not be a party-political figure, but act as a head of state for all citizens.

OUTCOME Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanović was re-elected following a run-off against Dragan Primorac from the ruling conservative party. Mr. Milanovic had won the first round of the presidential elections on December 29, 2024, but missed the required half-way mark by 5,000 votes. Milanovic won almost three-quarters of the votes beating opponent Dragan Primorac of the governing center-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party. The HDZ has been the dominant party since Croatia gained independence more than 30 years ago.

Belarus

DATE OF ELECTION January 26.

TYPE OF ELECTION Presidential election.

OUTCOME Europe’s longest-serving leader, Alexander Lukashenko, was declared the winner of the presidential election, securing a seventh straight term. According to the country’s electoral body, exit polls showed Lukashenko with 87.6% of vote in the Belarus presidential race. The Belarusian leader first won office in 1994 and returns to power, extending his three decades in power.

The European Parliament denounced the presidential election as a sham and the result has been disputed by various governments and human rights groups citing independent media repression and opposition member suppression concerns. In a joint statement from the Informal Group of Friends of Democratic Belarus within Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) the elections fell short of shared standards and the outcome was pre-determined and not free nor fair.

Germany

DATE OF ELECTION February 23.

TYPE OF ELECTION Federal election to elect the 630 members of the Bundestag, the federal legislative body.

OUTCOME Germany is getting a new chancellor, as Friedrich Merz is on course to become Germany’s 10th chancellor. The Christian Democratic Union / Christian Social Union secured 208 seats (28.52%), the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and Alice Weidel secured 152 seats (20.8%) and incumbent Chancellor Scholz’s Social Democratic Party secured 120 seats (16.41%). Mr. Scholz will continue as a caretaker chancellor until Mr. Merz is sworn in. It should be noted that AfD doubled its vote share from four years ago in the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II.

Sunday’s election determined who would be elected to parliament. Now, Friedrich Merz must put together a coalition government. Only when a coalition deal has been reached will the 630 lawmakers in the new Bundestag vote to elect the next chancellor, who must secure at least 316 votes. There are no formal deadlines for coalition-building or voting on the new chancellor. Merz has said he wants to begin talks immediately and hopes to form a governing coalition by Easter.

As per their campaign, the new government will attempt to cut bureaucracy and implement tax reforms, while investing in infrastructure and digitalization. Migration policy will be a central focus, as well as managing trade conflicts and securing affordable energy for the country.

For more information, read our deeper analysis of Germany’s federal election, including background on how Germany’s government is structured, why this election was consequential and what happens next.

Romania

DATE OF ELECTION May 4. A second round took place on May 18 since no first-round candidate won more than 50% of the vote.

TYPE OF ELECTION Presidential election.

OUTCOME Although George Simion, a right-wing nationalist candidate of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, came out on top in the first round with 40.96% of the vote, it was Nicușor Dan who won the presidential election. Dan, the current mayor of Bucharest who ran as an independent with the support of Save Romania Union, won the election with nearly 54% of the vote.

Poland

DATE OF ELECTION May 18. A second round took place on June 1 since no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round.

TYPE OF ELECTION Presidential election.

OUTCOME Conservative Karol Nawrocki of the Law and Justice party narrowly won the presidential election with 50.89% of the vote.

Czech Republic

DATE OF ELECTION October 3-4.

TYPE OF ELECTION Parliamentary election.

OUTCOME ANO, the right-wing populist party led by Andrej Babiš, captured 34.7% of the vote, winning 80 of the 200 seats in the lower house of the Czech parliament. Babis will need to form an alliance with other parties in order to hold the majority in parliament and become the Prime Minister.