Germany's spy agency classifies the largest opposition party (25% of the national vote) as an "extremist entity" in secret report
government ensures us it was a "fair and independent investigation"
refuses to release the report
copies the verbiage used by Belarus and Russia to ban political parties
France imprisons the leading opposition candidate Marine Le Pen (50% of the vote)
allegedly "embezzled money"
in reality all she did was pay employees for work with EU funds that were earmarked for "EU work"
turns out this is standard practice for all parties in the EU
the court unprecedentedly does not allow her to appeal this decision, instead she is banned "IMMEDIATELY", meaning the courts can drag out the appeals process for years until after the next election
copies the charges used by Russia and Belarus to imprison challengers to status quo
Romania cancels election AFTER THE OPPOSITION LEADER WON
Romanian supreme court doesn't even have that power
literally just usurped the power to cancel an election
retroactively charges him with a bunch of random crimes
bans him from participating in the next election
same tactic used by Belarus
Sweden changes the percentage needed to enter National Church Parliament because nationalist opposition party is exploding in polls
gotta love it.