2022 US House of Representatives election

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The two major parties in the United States were once again vying for power and both, the conservative Republican and the liberal Democratic Party, were hoping to win some seats. However, just like in 2020, the results for the midterm elections were coming in slowly. Whereas the situation in Congress seemed quite unclear for some time, we could see surprises in the House of Representatives, where Congressmen were elected for one region (with similar population numbers). Here arer my favourite ones. 

Arkansas is very Republican but its south had been a Democratic stronghold until it embraced civil rights and social justice. This is exactly what the Democratic candidate in Arkansas’ south tried to reverse: John White ran on a platform that is reminiscent of 60 years ago, when only racists could win in that region. This is mixed with pandering towards Trump and a denial of election safety to such an extent that many people did notice his intentions on the internet, mocking his weird message. White repeatedly affirmed that Kennedy was the last elected president and that all others had been instated by the deep state. Luckily, he clearly lost the election with only 26%. 

Another, more moderate Democrat, is Sean Patrick Maloney. He is the tactical mastermind behind the party’s election strategy that had been fairly successful. Yet,he clearly feared a horrible result for his party, so decided to run for another district, which was in another part of the country in this election, because he was more likely to win there. This might have cost him the election in the end though. While his seat stayed with his party, his new constituents were repulsed by Maloney switching seats only for this reason and voted him out of office.  

Of course, what would be an analysis of the midterms without the viral results? The Republicans’ underperforming this year, can be attributed to factors like abortion and Trump swaying voters to turn up at the polls against the party of the Right. More people than predicted ended up voting for the Democrats in all the important races, causing states like Pennsylvania, Arizona as well as partly Georgia and Nevada to become or stay “blue”. But there is one prominent counterexample: Florida had trended towards the right with its star governor Ron DeSantis. Since DeSantis won such a large victory, analysts are now reconsidering Florida’s status as a swing state, which can either vote Democrat or Republican. 

by Rath Péter, 7aw

Conflict between the EU and Belarus

For the fourth time in 2021, the European Union has taken action against Belarus, imposing sanctions in the form of official restrictions and penalties on the country, individuals and companies. Belarus has lately made headlines by brutally crushing protests for freedom, which were mostly led by women.

Aleksandr Lukashenko was supposedly elected as the president of Belarus for the sixth time in August of 2020. The European Union, however, has stated that all but the first of those elections were fraudulent and thus sanctions had to be enforced on Belarus in order to hold its government accountable for violating human rights.

In response to the numerous restrictions that have been put on the country, Belarus is now allegedly encouraging large numbers of migrants from the Middle East to illegally enter the European Union, which is regarded by some as an offence towards the EU. Belarus is also accused of providing migrants with tools and other support so that they can enter other nearby countries such as Poland. There have been multiple disputes between the Polish military and the migrants that threw rocks at the armed Polish forces, which was retaliated with tear gas.

President Aleksandr Lukashenko denies that he is responsible for the problems caused by some of the migrants and even states that he is actively encouraging them to return to their home countries. Russia, one of Belarus’ allies, takes a similar stance on these issues..

One of the EU measures is that airlines join in on the sanctions and limit or outright halt flights to Belarus. There are even countries that are hindering people from the Middle East to travel to Belarus in order to alleviate the situation.

More conflicts between the EU and Belarus are to be expected.

by Grasmuck Lukas, 6aw

Heated Debate over Deportations to Afghanistan

In view of the latest, tragic event of a young girl being killed by asylum seekers, the debate about asylum and migration has restarted in Austria. So far the political parties do not seem to be able to find a solution to the problem. Last week the Green Party, the junior partner of the ÖVP (People’s Party) in the current federal government, claimed that changes in the laws regarding the expulsion of people from Afghanistan should be considered. Their argument was that this country would be too insecure and unstable to send people back because of the local civil war. The ÖVP has refused those claims though.

Then, last weekend, a cruel murder in Vienna provoked fierce debate about delinquent asylum seekers: a 13-year-old girl was found leaning on a tree in Wien-Donaustadt. She had been strangled during the night before Saturday. The main suspects are three asylum seekers from Afghanistan, 16 and 18 years old. A fourth, 22-year-old Afghan is supposed to have been involved in the murder as well. According to the accusations, they had administered drugs to the girl and abused her sexually, before killing her and getting rid of her dead body. The 18- and 22-year-old Afghans have been in Austria since 2015 and are said to have already come into conflict with the law several times during this time (drug commerce, assault, dealing with stolen goods, etc.). Both received a prison sentence and their asylum status was rejected by the government. However, the Afghans lodged an appeal against this decision and their cases are still pending, which is why they are still in Austria.

This horrific incident has reinforced the position of the ÖVP, namely that serious offenders cannot be granted asylum but should be deported. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called the murder in Vienna “barbaric“ and promised to do everything possible to punish the perpetrators severely. He said that it was intolerable that people searching for protection in our country would commit serious crimes and be allowed to stay. Representatives of the Green Party claimed, however, that Afghanistan would not be a safe place to send anyone back and rather considered the recent murder as male violence rather than merely a crime committed by asylum seekers.

Meanwhile, the Opposition feels that all this can be attributed to our government failing once again. The Socialist Party (SPÖ) maintains that delinquent asylum seekers should not “run free“ in Austria. Herbert Kickl, the new party leader of the right-wing FPÖ (Freedom Party), even demands a “compulsion offensive“ to Afghanistan. Further, he claims that in the case of an asylum seeker committing serious offences, asylum processes should be stopped and such poeple should be deprived immediately of their status.

To conclude, the need to reform the Austrian asylum system is evident, as only then can cases like the murder of the 13-year-old girl Leonie be prevented.

by Hohensinner Johannes, 6dk