In the News, 2020: EUROPE

Three years after the British people voted in a referendum to leave the European Union, will Brexit (short for “British exit”) finally happen in 2019? The United Kingdom has a new pro-Brexit prime minister, Boris Johnson, and he’s vowed to complete the process with or without a trade deal with the E.U. to cushion the blow. But most British lawmakers are opposed to leaving without a deal and have passed a law to prohibit it. The standoff has made the future of Brexit more uncertain than ever.

The number of migrants arriving in Europe after fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East is way down from its peak in 2015. But hostility toward these newcomers is on the rise in many parts of Europe. Anti-immigrant political parties have gained power in countries such as Hungary, Sweden, Italy, Austria, and Poland. Even Germany, which has welcomed more than a million migrants since 2015, has seen a backlash.

President Vladimir Putin has remained in power for 20 years, in part by stifling dissent and cracking down on his political enemies. Despite President Trump’s push for better relations with Russia, ties between the two nations remain strained. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, with the aim of helping to elect Trump to the White House, and that Russia is already trying to meddle in the 2020 election.