The European Union Parliament elections were held from June 6-9. Preliminary results in many countries, including France and Germany, indicate success for far-right parties. In response, French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the parliament and called for early elections.
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Marine Le Pen's right-wing populist National Union received about 32% of the vote, while the ruling Renaissance party garnered 15%. The French Socialist Party is in third place with 14% of the votes. The first and second rounds of the early National Assembly elections will be held on June 30 and July 7.
“The rise of nationalists, of demagogues, is a danger for our nation, but also for our Europe, for France’s place in Europe and in the world. The extreme right is both the impoverishment of the French people and the downfall of our country. So at the end of this day, I can't pretend that nothing has happened. That's why I decided to give you the choice of our parliamentary future through voting once again," Macron said.
In Germany, the three parties in the governing coalition are far behind the center-right CDU/CSU (Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union), which has 30%, and the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which is expected to collect 16% of the votes. Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party received only about 14% in the elections, the Greens received 12%, and the Free Democrats received 5%. Compared to the last European Parliament elections, all of these parties lost votes.
360 million citizens of the European Union elected 720 members of the European Parliament. In total, the alliance of center-right parties received the most votes.
According to the preliminary results, the European People's Party (EPP) has the most seats in the European Parliament, with 191. The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) has 135 seats, Renew Europe, which includes Macron's party, has 83 seats. The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) has 71 seats, Identity and Democracy (ID) has 57 seats, Greens/EFA has 53 seats, and the Left has 35 seats. It is expected that 45 to 50 seats will be allocated to members who do not belong to any of the political groups listed above and to newly elected members who do not belong to any of the political groups created in the Parliament for 2019-2024.
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission and the main candidate of the center-right European People's Party, thanked European voters for their trust. Today is a good day for the European People's Party. We won the European elections, she said while talking to journalists.
