Liberals and Greens Win Elections Across Europe, Nationalists Win Big in Italy, France, and UK, May 27, 2019

Liberals and Greens Win Elections Across Europe, Nationalists Win Big in Italy, France, and UK

May 27, 2019


European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, May 27, 2019	Nationalist Hungarian Prime Minsiter Viktor Orban and nationalist Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini visiting Hungary's border fence

European elections 2019: What happened last night?

By Lauren Chadwick •

Euro News, 27/05/2019 - 11:32

Projected turnout was highest in 20 years at 51% overall. It was highest in Belgium at 89% and lowest in Slovenia at 28.29%.

Green parties performed well and said a "green wave" was making its way across Europe. In France, Germany, and Ireland green parties saw huge increases. The Greens/EFA grouping are projected to take as many as 70 seats.

The balance of power will change as traditional parties only held onto top spots by a slim margin. The EPP will hold onto the majority with a projected 179 seats down from 221 seats.

Nigel Farage's Brexit party stormed the UK vote with over 31% but the pro-European Liberal Democrats also surged in popularity. The election saw big losses for the Conservative and Labour parties.

Marine Le Pen's right-wing RN lead President Emmanuel Macron in France 23.6% to 22.6%. Yanick Jadot's Green Party surprisingly rose to be the third largest in France with 13.1% according to IFOP.

Catalonian separatists Carlos Puigdemont (in exile) and Oriol Junqueras (in prison) win seats. The anti-immigration party Vox also won its first EU seats.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for snap national elections after he was defeated by the opposition party by 10 points in the EU elections.

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European elections 2019: Power blocs lose grip on parliament

BBC, May 27, 2019

A clear trend in the EU elections was the 'Green wave' with a surge of Green MEPs being elected

The big centre-right and centre-left blocs in the European Parliament have lost their combined majority amid an increase in support for liberals, the Greens and nationalists.

Pro-EU parties are still expected to be in a majority but the traditional blocs will need to seek new alliances.

The liberals and Greens had a good night, while nationalists were victorious in Italy, France and the UK.

Turnout was the highest for 20 years, bucking decades of decline.

Just under 51% of eligible voters across the 28 member states cast their ballots, compared with fewer than 43% in 2014.

Although populist and far-right parties gained ground in some countries, they fell short of the very significant gains some had predicted.

The centre-right European People's Party (EPP) remains the largest bloc and analysts say it is likely to form a grand coalition with the Socialists and Democrats bloc, with support from liberals and the Greens.

In the UK, the newly-formed Brexit Party claimed a big victory, and a strong performance by the Liberal Democrats came amid massive losses for the Conservatives and Labour.

The European Parliament helps shape EU legislation and the results will play a big part in who gets the key jobs in the European Commission, the Union's executive.

What do the results mean for the EU?

Based on current estimates, the previously dominant conservative EPP and Socialists and Democrats blocs will be unable to form a "grand coalition" in the EU parliament without support.

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Italian Deputy Prime Minister Salvini: "Europe is changing"

Media captionItaly's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini: "Europe is changing"

The EPP was projected to win 179 seats, down from 216 in 2014. The Socialists and Democrats looked set to drop to 150 seats from 191.

Pro-EU parties are still expected to hold a majority of seats however, largely due to gains made by the liberal ALDE bloc, and particularly a decision taken by the party of French President Emmanuel Macron to join the group. His Renaissance alliance was defeated by the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen.

"For the first time in 40 years, the two classical parties, socialists and conservatives, will no longer have a majority," said Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the ALDE.

"It's clear this evening is a historical moment, because there will be a new balance of power in the European Parliament," he said.

There were major successes for the Greens, with exit polls suggesting the group would jump from 50 to around 67 MEPs.

But gains for nationalist parties in Italy, France and elsewhere means a greater say for Eurosceptics who want to curb the EU's powers.

Matteo Salvini, who leads Italy's League party, has been working to establish an alliance of at least 12 parties, and his party set the tone winning more than 30% of the vote, according to partial results.

Beyond the status quo

This outcome reflects a tendency already apparent in national elections all over Europe: rejection of the status quo. Look at the beating meted out to France's centre-right and centre-left, to Angela Merkel and her Social Democrat coalition partners, plus the slap in the face delivered to the UK's Conservative and Labour parties.

Europe's voters are looking elsewhere for answers. They're drawn to parties and political personalities they feel better represent their values and priorities.

Some are attracted by the nationalist right, promising a crackdown on immigration and more power for national parliaments, rather than Brussels. Italy's firebrand Deputy PM Matteo Salvini is a successful example, as is Hungary's Viktor Orban.

Other voters prefer a pro-European alternative, like the Green Party and liberal groups. They also performed well in these elections.

Who were the winners and losers?

In Germany, both major centrist parties suffered. Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats dropped from 35% of the vote in 2014 to 28%, while the centre-left Social Democratic Union fell from 27% to 15.5%.

The right-wing populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) performed worse than expected - projected in exit polls to win 10.5% - while still improving on its first results in 2014.

In the UK, the newly formed Brexit Party, led by Nigel Farage, secured about 32% of the vote, amid gains for the Liberal Democrats and significant losses for the Conservative and Labour parties.

Amid mixed results for far-right parties across Europe, Ms Le Pen's National Rally party - formerly the National Front - was celebrating victory in France over Mr Macron's party, securing 24% of the vote to his 22.5%.

A presidential official described the outcome as a "disappointment" but "absolutely honourable" compared to previous results.

In Hungary, Viktor Orban, whose anti-immigration Fidesz party took 52% of the vote and 13 of the country's 21 seats, was also a big winner.

"We are small but we want to change Europe," Mr Orban said. He described the elections as "the beginning of a new era against migration".

Image copyrightEPAImage caption Marine Le Pen's National Rally beat Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance - but not by far

In Spain, the ruling Socialist party (PSOE) took a clear lead with 32.8% of the vote and 20 seats, while the far-right Vox party won just 6.2% and three seats - coming in fifth.

In Greece, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for an early election after the opposition conservative New Democracy party won 33.5% of the votes to 20% for his Syriza party.

The right-wing ruling Law and Justice party did well in Poland, winning 45% of the vote, and 27 of the country's 51 seats.

Why was the turnout so high?

EU citizens turned out to vote in the highest numbers for two decades, and significantly higher than the last elections in 2014, when fewer than 43% of eligible voters took part.

Turnout in Hungary and Poland more than doubled on the previous poll, and Denmark hit a record 63%.

Analysts attributed the high turnout to a range of factors including the rise of populist parties and increased climate change awareness.

How does the European Parliament work?

It is the European Union's law-making body.

It's made up of 751 members, called MEPs, who are directly elected by EU voters every five years. These MEPs - who sit in both Brussels and Strasbourg - represent the interests of citizens from the EU's 28 member states.

Image copyrightEPAImage caption The European Parliament is the EU's law-making body

One of the parliament's main legislative roles is scrutinising and passing laws proposed by the European Commission - the bureaucratic arm of the EU.

It is also responsible for electing the president of the European Commission and approving the EU budget.

The parliament is comprised of eight main groups that sit together in the chamber based on their political and ideological affiliations.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48417744

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An Inside Job: The Right-Wing Populist Plan to Destroy Europe

Europe's right-wing populists haven't been stopped by the scandal in Austria. They are working hard to destroy the European Union from within its own institutions and the European elections may show how close they are to success. By DER SPIEGEL Staff

Balasz Szecsodi/ AFP/ Source/ Byline

May 24, 2019 06:01 PM

After the Ibiza videos had made their way around the world, after Austria's vice chancellor had resigned and the government appeared to be on the verge of collapse, as people found themselves wondering just how deep the abyss could be, the operatic aria "Nessun dorma" - "none shall sleep" - could be heard on the square in front of Milan's Duomo cathedral. It's Matteo Salvini's entrance music.

It was last Saturday, one week before elections to the European Parliament. And Salvini, Italy's interior minister, had assembled a pan-European festival of right-wing populists and radicals. Marine Le Pen had come in high spirits from France, Geert Wilders was there from the Netherlands, Jörg Meuthen from the Alternative for Germany party, along with Bulgarian, Slovak, Austrian, Flemish, Danish, Finnish and Estonian nationalists, 11 parties from Europe's right-wing periphery who want to form a "super group" in the next European Parliament.

Together, they performed what is by now well-known work, one with some surreal features: Full of bluster, the self-proclaimed "true Europeans" campaigned for entry into a parliament they despise. And they asked the people to give them the power to hollow out a European Union that has been painstakingly built over decades. All of it to the tune of "Nessun dorma," along with Puccini's "Turandot," its aria ending in fierce chanting: "Vanish, oh night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At dawn I will win! I'll win! I will win!" Vincerò!

On the stage in Milan, not a word was said about the drama unfolding in Vienna, as Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), stepped down from his position as vice chancellor following the leak of a video demonstrating the depth of his corruptibility - a scandal that also threatened to take down the entire Austrian government. And yet, in Milan they all pretended that nothing had happened. Even as they all knew: Quite a lot had happened.

Strache Is No Isolated Incident

This time around, it's not about some low-level party official sending Hitler pictures via WhatsApp on the Führer's birthday in provincial Austria. This time it goes right to the top level of the Austrian government, casting light on the worrying state of the Austrian political scene. The videos raise fundamental questions about whether the populists are fit for power. And whether they can be entrusted with government business. And whether Strache and his protégé Johann Gudenus should be regarded as isolated cases or as symbolic figures of a fast and loose relationship between right-wing populists and donations from foreign donors, rule of law and the truth.

Most Austrians, with the exception, perhaps, of FPÖ supporters, were likely to have been deeply shocked by the disregard to the country's constitution shown in the recordings, and many Europeans were astonished by the crooked behavior displayed by the second in command of a government of an EU member state. If the scenes in the Ibiza videos had been part of a TV crime show, people probably would have dismissed them as having been exaggerated and overdone.

https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/european-right-wing-populists-eye-european-election-success-a-1269122.html

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EU elections 2019: Country-by-country guide

By Euronews • last updated: 27/05/2019 - 09:44

Voters from the 28 member states of the European Union have cast their ballot in what is the second biggest democratic exercise in the world.

Official projections showed parties committed to strengthening the European Union held on to two-thirds of seats in the EU parliament, though far-right and nationalist opponents saw strong gains.

Austria

The ruling People's Party, led by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, comes in first with 34.9%, according to provisional results. It is followed by the Social Democrats with 23.4% and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) with 17.2%.

The latter's score is believed to have been hit by the so-called Ibiza scandal which resulted in party leader Heinz-Christian Strache resigning as vice-chancellor last week after a secret video appeared to show him trying to trade public contracts for party donations from a woman he thought was the niece of a Russian oligarch.