Fragmented Europe harder to govern

Brussels

FROM Portugal to Sweden, European countries are becoming harder to govern, and economic reforms more difficult to implement, as a prolonged financial crisis bequeaths a fragmented political landscape with weaker and more divided governments.

The arrival of a wave of refugees and migrants fleeing war, repression and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa may even amplify those political trends, boosting anti-immigration populists and sapping the traditional parties of government.