European Parliament Elections Conclude in the EU

The European Parliament elections have concluded in the European Union, with voters from 27 countries selecting 720 members of parliament. According to the voting results, the largest group will remain the European People’s Party (EPP), although the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the far-right Identity and Democracy group have significantly strengthened their positions. Social Democrats, the left, and the Greens have lost votes.

In Germany, opposition parties have achieved a decisive victory, with the center-right CDU/CSU alliance leading by a wide margin. Despite pre-election scandals regarding potential ties to the Kremlin, the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) occupies second place. The leading party of the ruling coalition, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, rank third. A new party, the Union of Sarah Wagenknecht, is gaining relative success, opposing military aid to Ukraine, and currently holds 5.5% of the votes, outperforming the Free Democrats.

In France, the right-wing populists of the National Rally are leading by a significant margin, with exit polls indicating they have nearly double the support of President Emmanuel Macron’s supporters. In response to the preliminary election results, Macron has announced the dissolution of the French parliament and plans to hold elections on June 30.

In Spain, the right-wing People's Party has slightly overtaken the ruling Socialists. In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party leads according to exit polls, followed by conservatives. In Latvia, two right-wing parties are ahead: the New Unity, part of the ruling coalition, and the opposition National Alliance. In Poland, the far-right Confederation holds approximately 12%, while pro-European centrists led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk have won.

Preliminary results from the Netherlands show that Geert Wilders' right-wing Freedom Party has succeeded and is likely to be in the future government. However, the Greens and Socialists have unexpectedly gained the lead. In Slovakia, the opposition Progressive Slovakia leads in exit polls, surpassing supporters of Prime Minister Robert Fico, with the far-right Republic Party receiving over 12% of the votes. The largest opposition party in the Czech Republic, ANO, has won, followed by the ruling centrist coalition in second place, then far-right and far-left voting blocs.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's ruling Fidesz party has won with 43%, but the recently founded Respect and Freedom party, led by his rival Péter Márki-Zay, has received over 30% of the votes. About 360 million voters had the right to vote, with participation in most countries higher than in 2019.

The European Parliament confirms the composition of the European Commission (which is formed based on agreements among EU member states) and also initiates pan-European legislative initiatives.