In three days of voting in the EU’s 27 member states, far-right parties made gains in several countries, which one said signaled a shift to the right in the European Parliament, according to oneArray.
“In addition to the domestic political consequences, the key end result of the election is a pivot towards the European Parliament,” said Pawel Zerca, a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally won 31. 5% of the vote, more than double the 14. 5% of the Need for Europe alliance, which includes President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance, prompting the French head of state to call for an immediate legislative election in 4 weeks.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s ultra-conservative Brothers of Italy won 28. 8 votes, quadrupling what it had won in the 2019 European elections and surpassing the 26 it had won in the 2022 national elections.
In the EU’s most populous country, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 16. 2% of the vote, beating Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats.
Another country where the right did well is Austria, where the Freedom Party (FPÖ) won with 25. 5%, ahead of the conservative People’s Party with 24. 7% and the Social Democrats with 23. 3%.
While the vote count was still underway on Monday, provisional results showed that of the 720 seats in Parliament, the two majority and pro-European organizations, the Christian Democrats would have 189 seats, for a total of 13, and the Socialists and Democrats, 135 , four less. The pro-business organization Renew will have 83 seats, a minimum of 19.
EU27: Ursula von der Leyen’s centre-right EPP bloc leads Germany, Finland and Greece; the right-wing organization ID is in the lead in Austria. #EP2024Lorsque no effects are available, this interactive map is in the pre-election polls. Where there are multi-party lists, we have assigned. . . pic. twitter. com/3qDRvdQZ9E
Zerca added: “The winners of these elections are the two families of the radical right. “
He said the effects align with a right-wing trend in EU member states, where radical right-wing components are part of national governments in 8 of the 27 countries and together can hamper EU parliamentary legislation.
“This update could have an effect on climate, migration, expansion, budget and rule of law policies if right-wing parties collaborate,” he said. The Austrian result “could also attract the participation of the far right”. in the country’s next government, following national elections scheduled for later this year. “
Zerca said there was a threat of “growing divisions, even chaos” in the European Parliament and the European Council, “which would threaten European unity and the ability to achieve successful compromises,” especially given the war in Ukraine and an imaginable Trump presidency.
This graph above the votes in the European parliamentary elections where the EPP represents the centre-right European People’s Party (S
The map also shows the GFA, which is the Greens/European Free Alliance group. On the right of the political spectrum are the ECR (Group of European Conservatives and Reformists) and the far-right ID (Identity and Democracy Group). Also represented are NI (unregistered) and La Izquierda.
Across Europe, the right’s gains have come at the expense of the Greens, who will lose about 20 seats in parliament, the Associated Press reported.
However, early projections for the European elections that the centre-right European People’s Party would have strengthened its presence in the European Parliament have led European Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen to insist that “the centre remains”.
Meanwhile, in an assessment shared with Newsweek, Carol Schaeffer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the AfD had performed as well as expected; that Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party in Hungary had lost ground and that the Dutch Freedom Party had gained seats but had won outright.
“So, although the far right has made significant gains across the EU, its victory is not indisputable,” he said.
Brendan Cole is a senior reporter for Newsweek in London, UK. It focuses on Russia and Ukraine, specifically on the war unleashed through Moscow. It also covers other areas of geopolitics, adding China.
Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and, in addition to English, is studying Russian and French.
You can contact Brendan by emailing b. cole@newsweek. com or following him on his X @brendanmarkcole account.
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