“For weeks, Europe’s far-right populists have been dashing across the Continent, joining arms and presenting themselves as a united front that will batter the political establishment and score a big breakthrough in this week’s elections for the European Parliament,” the New York Times reports.

“Their latest group hug came in Milan on Saturday evening, where Italy’s firebrand, Matteo Salvini, preened with France’s far right icon, Marine Le Pen, and nearly a dozen other populist leaders. They bashed the European Union, migrants and Islam and promised the dawn of a new, nationalist era.”

“But it was telling what they did not talk about: the scandal that erupted this weekend in Austria, which led to the collapse of the nation’s coalition government after the far-right vice chancellor was caught on a video promising favors to a woman claiming to be a Russian investor.”

“Austria’s chancellor called Saturday for snap elections after the country’s far-right vice chancellor resigned over a secretly filmed video from 2017 that renewed questions about whether Russia had a direct line into a government at the heart of Europe,” the New York Times reports.

“The video showed Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache of the far-right Freedom Party promising government contracts to a woman claiming to be the niece of a Russian oligarch.”

A new Observer/Opinium poll in the U.K. finds more voters now say they would back the Brexit party at the next general election than the Conservatives.

“Nigel Farage’s party increased its support by three points to 24% of the vote, leapfrogging the Tories and trailing Labour by just five points. The Conservatives claimed 22% of the vote, the same figure they recorded in last week’s poll.”

“Scott Morrison, Australia’s conservative prime minister, scored a surprise victory in federal elections on Saturday, propelled by a populist wave — the ‘quiet Australians,’ he termed it — resembling the force that has upended politics in the United States, Britain and beyond,” the New York Times reports.

“The win stunned Australian election analysts — polls had pointed to a loss for Mr. Morrison’s coalition for months. But in the end, the prime minister confounded expectations suggesting that the country was ready for a change in course after six years of tumultuous leadership under the conservative political coalition.”

Washington Post: “The apparent upset victory was the latest election to trample predictions by polling firms, which all showed Morrison’s political bloc trailing the opposition Labor Party. It also carried other uncanny parallels with Trump’s rise.”

A bombshell report from the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung: “Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of Austria’s right-wing populist FPÖ party, met with a purported Russian multimillionaire in July 2017 where she offered him campaign support in exchange for public contracts.”

“What he didn’t know was that the entire exchange was being recorded by hidden cameras.”

“Spain’s Socialist party stood poised to win the lion’s share of votes in a contentious snap election Sunday that will determine the future of the country’s legislature in a moment of bitter political polarization,” the Washington Post reports.

“The Socialists, the party of incumbent prime minister Pedro Sánchez, had won 123 parliamentary seats with over 70 percent of the vote counted. While the traditional center-right Popular Party appeared to suffer heavy losses, Vox, the extreme right, was on course to enter parliament for the first time.”

The Guardian: “With nearly 90% of votes counted, it seems certain that Pedro Sánchez’s socialist party will be able to govern without the support of the Catalan nationalists that brought down his previous administration, leaving the pro-independence movement with a voice in parliament but little leverage.”

Washington Post: “There’s little doubt that Mussolini was nominated because of — not despite — his relationship to Il Duce… Mussolini repeatedly hinted he views his great grandfather as an inspiration.”

“Like some other descendants of the former Italian dictator, Caio maintained an ambivalent relationship with family history. In a recent interview with Il Corriere della Sera, he claimed that he is ‘not a fascist,’ but on April 16 he was scheduled to hold a lecture about fascist doctrine at a Fratelli D’Italia event in Padua.”

Switzerland’s top court has for the first time in the country’s history overturned the outcome of a nationwide referendum, saying voters were given “incomplete” information on the measure, the BBC reports.

“Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be headed toward a historic fifth term as Israel’s prime minister on Wednesday, with close-to-complete unofficial election results giving his right-wing Likud and other nationalist and religious parties a solid majority in parliament,” the AP reports.

“The outcome affirmed Israel’s continued tilt to the right and further dimmed hopes of a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Re-election will also give Netanyahu an important boost as he braces for the likelihood of criminal charges in a series of corruption scandals.”

“With 97.4% of the vote counted, Likud and its traditional political allies were in command of a 65-55 majority in parliament.”

Jerusalem Post: “Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party triumphed with 37 seats over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tuesday’s elections, according to the exit poll published by Channel 12 at 10 p.m. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took 33 seats in that poll.”

“However, according to the exit poll published by Channel 13 at the same time, both parties took 36 seats.”