Thousands of supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan took to the streets and blocked highways in southwestern Pakistan on Monday to protest the results of last week’s chaotic election.
Pakistan faces an uncertain future given no party won a majority, and both Khan and his rival, Nawaz Sharif, have declared victory. Though independents primarily aligned with Khan won the most seats (101), there’s no viable path for them to form a governing coalition due to their lack of party affiliation. They ran as independents after being blocked from using his party’s symbol, a cricket bat, as an electoral image to help illiterate voters find them on ballots.
“The military-dominated Pakistani establishment is working to cobble together a coalition of mainstream parties that will be led by Nawaz Sharif's Pakistani Muslim League, with Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s Pakistan People's Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement likely serving as junior partners,” says Eurasia Group analyst Rahul Bhatia.
“Given the influence of the establishment in Pakistan,” candidates backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party “will almost certainly be kept out of power,” adds Bhatia, though some “are also likely to join the coalition parties.”
Still, the unexpected success of Khan’s independents marks a serious rebuke of the country’s powerful military, which has long played an outsized role in Pakistan’s politics. The fact that Khan’s supporters are protesting despite the military’s crackdown on his party “shows that many Pakistanis are no longer afraid of the establishment,” says Bhatia, and it indicates the army’s power is “gradually eroding.”
“While Pakistan will likely see widespread protests once the new government is announced, the military should be able to handle them,” says Bhatia.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a meeting of the European Political Community in Armenia this weekend, a first by the leader of a non-European country. He was invited to discuss common interests in trade, energy, and security. In a speech that echoed his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos two months earlier, Carney called on middle powers, including Canada and European nations, to work together in the wake of disruption of the established world order — implicitly pointing to the United States. “It’s my strong personal view that the international order will be rebuilt,” he told the crowd in Yerevan, “but it will be rebuilt out of Europe.”
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government fell after losing a no-confidence vote, putting Romania’s access to EU recovery funds – worth approximately $13 billion – at risk.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government fell after losing a no-confidence vote, putting Romania’s access to EU recovery funds – worth approximately $13 billion – at risk. The country, which has the largest budget deficit in the EU, has to complete the bloc’s mandated economic reforms by August to unlock the funds. But with its country’s pro-EU government pushed out, those reforms are uncertain.
One year after announcing its European digital commitments, Microsoft shared an update on progress across the region, highlighting new investments and expanded infrastructure to support AI adoption, strengthen resilience, and protect data. As demand for AI grows, organizations across Europe are increasingly focused on digital sovereignty, seeking greater control over data, stronger security, and assurance that critical systems remain available amid geopolitical uncertainty. Microsoft’s latest update outlines progress across key areas, including cloud expansion, cybersecurity, and privacy protections, helping enable AI and cloud adoption at scale while aligning with European regulations and priorities. Read the full update here.