Far-right, populist, and eurosceptic parties achieved substantial victories in Sunday’s European Parliament elections. This outcome signals a deep dissatisfaction among a significant portion of the electorate and raises questions about the future political trajectory of the EU. “Many people felt that Europe was acting over them rather than with them,” acknowledged the Greens’ lead candidate, whose group experienced a decline in support, in an interview with Reuters.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party is on course for its worst result in a national or European poll in nearly two decades in Sunday’s European Parliament election, where a political newcomer outscored all other opposition parties.
FIDESZ won over 43% of the vote, with 60% of ballots counted, compared to a 52.5% result in the previous election in 2019. This could be its worst performance since Orban’s return at the head of the country in 2010.
Spain’s centre-right Popular Party (PP) emerged victorious in Sunday’s European Parliament elections, winning 22 of the country’s 61 seats and dealing a blow to the Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
While the centre-right, centre-left and liberal parties will hold the balance of power in the 720-seat parliament, the vote dealt a domestic blow to the leaders of both France and Germany, raising questions about how the big European Union powers can still coordinate policy within the bloc, Reuters noted.
In France, the extremist Rassemblement National (RN) party won more than 32% of the vote and won the European Parliament election by at least 16 points over Emmanuel Macron’s bloc, prompting the president to dissolve parliament and call early elections , a shocking decision for many observers and political people. “I can’t pretend nothing happened,” Macron said, while Le Pen appeared “ready to take power.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also had a painful night as his Social Democrats scored their worst ever result, suffering against the conservatives, who won, and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who were credited by exit polls with second place.
The far right also won in Austria, coming out on top for the first time in history and setting the stage for national parliamentary elections in the fall.
While Giorgia Meloni’s post-fascist party consolidated its position on the domestic level, winning these MEPs as well.
And other extremists and Eurosceptics scored well in other countries, including the Netherlands (Thursday) or Romania, where AUR came second with 15%, according to exit polls.
EPP, still the largest
However, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) will continue to be the largest political family in the new legislature, with 189 MEPs, up 13 from five years ago, according to projections provided by the European Parliament. The EPP result is good news for Ursula von der Leyen, a member of this group, who is seeking a second five-year term at the helm of the EU’s powerful executive branch, the European Commission.
The centre-left Socialists and Democrats are on track to be the second largest political family, even though they have lost four MPs to reach 135, European Parliament projections show. The Renew Liberals also fell by 22 seats, but managed to remain the third political force with 80 seats in the new European parliament.
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