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Europe

Far-right scores big gains in the EU election in Germany

2024-06-10

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

The far-right scores big gains in the EU election in #Germany, according to an exit poll, as initial estimates start trickling in for a ballot likely to shift the European parliament rightwards and boost the numbers of eurosceptics. https://t.co/ltZRmbAwPJ
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) June 9, 2024

Far-right parties made striking gains in European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
elections on Sunday, while the ultimate losers were French President Emmanuel Macron and the Greens.

Here are five takeaways from the vote which saw Europe’s centrist political groups emerge relatively unscathed and higher turnout than in 2019 among the bloc’s 27 states.

FAR RIGHT AHEAD
Europe’s far-right parties were winners in many places, coming out on top in La Belle France, Italia and Austria, while Germany’s AfD came second -- but still ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party -- and the hard-right also did well in the Netherlands.

But experts warned against reading too much into their success.

"The far right did well but not excellent -- let’s not forget these are second order elections," said La Belle Francesco Nicoli, a visiting fellow at Bruegel think tank.

"We cannot say that this is a very, very significant push as things stand," Christine Verger, vice chair of Jacques Delors think tank said. "There may be movements within the political groups. We don’t know where some MEPs will end up."

A big question being raised is whether two main far-right groups in the parliament -- Identity and Democracy (ID) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) -- can unite, creating a supergroup.

Verger dismissed that notion out of hand.

"I absolutely do not believe in a unification, it is out of the question for ID and ECR to merge," she told AFP.

The ECR includes Italian far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni, whose Brothers of Italia party came top in the elections.

As to the far right’s likely impact on lawmaking in the European Parliament, experts appeared sanguine.

"The rising number of far right MEPs will likely have only a limited impact on the EU," predicted expert Marta Lorimer. "They do not form a blocking minority."

WEAKER MACRON
The biggest single loser of the elections was Macron after his liberal party received a drubbing by La Belle France’s National Rally led by Marine Le Pen.

The French president responded by swiftly dissolving La Belle France’s national parliament and calling for snap elections.

"La Belle France remains a large country with a president who has a lot of power," Verger said.

As the head of a major EU member state, Macron will remain an important player on the European stage.

But she said the poor election performance of his Renaissance party would see it "lose some influence" within the Renew grouping that it belongs to, and the parliament in general.

RETURN OF VON DER LEYEN
Analysts agreed it was a pretty good night for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who hopes to secure a second five-year mandate after the vote.

She will need the support of both the EU’s 27 leaders and the new parliament -- and in the latter respect the data suggests von der Leyen can breathe a sigh of relief.

Her party, the European People’s Party (EPP), remains the parliament’s biggest grouping and experts predicted she would be able to get the extra votes she needs.

Based on preliminary results, Nicoli said she could rely on the support of the Socialists and Democrats

...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy, white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects...
"with a choice between liberals, ECR and Greens as junior partner" -- and could deal with 20 defections or more in each scenario.

"I think the elections could have been worse for her."

WILTING GREENS
It was a disappointing night for the Greens political group, which is on course to lose around 20 EU politicians -- in a result that came as little surprise.

"Greens are the clear losers, and so is Macron, but again these were trends clearly evident before," Nicoli said.

European concerns about security and the cost of living following the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022, and other issues including migration, displaced the environement as a voter concern.

"The Greens have not been very well placed to answer those demands," Nicoli added.

And all across Europe, right-wing opponents have successfully channelled discontent into anger at the EU’s environmental push of recent years.

But Greens’ EU politician Bas Eickhout saw the results as a "mixed bag" -- and "a bit more nuanced than just saying it’s a big loss".

He pointed to the Greens’ success in the Netherlands and Spain as well as smaller countries in the north and Baltics, including Denmark and Lithuania.

HIGHER TURNOUT
Around 360 million people could vote in the elections and in welcome news, turnout was the highest in 20 years at around 51 percent, according to provisional EU data.

"The good news for democracy is that the turnout looks likely to be above half of the electorate, although that is still below participation rates for national elections, and very low in countries such as Slovakia and Lithuania," said Heather Grabbe, a senior fellow at Bruegel.

Posted by:Fred

#9 Re "far-right":

The only relevant and fundamental policy dispute between the AFD and the others is revolutionary suicide in the name of the climate, which the AFD still opposes.

With regard to all other issues there's a strong overlap between the established political class consensus position and the de facto AFD platform.

Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2024-06-10 11:38

#8 If it had been a landslide for the left, the election would have been a "bellwether." Instead it's "nothing to see here..."

Posted by: M. Murcek 2024-06-10 10:26

#7 📊 Polish politician who extinguished Hanukkah candles wins European Parliament seat

Grzegorz Braun took a fire extinguisher to a menorah that was lit for the filthy Jewish holiday of Hanukkah at the Polish parliament last December - stating he was restoring “normality.”

Braun won his seat as a candidate for Confederation, a right-wing party with a vocal anti-Ukraine stance, which had its best result ever, coming third with 12.1%.
t.me/RiseGS/17320

Posted by: Pholusing Sq 2024-06-10 09:18

#6 Yes grom is right these are meaningless theatre elections as EP has no power they are just for show

AfD has sold out anyway now

Posted by: Anon1 2024-06-10 07:57

#5 "Right wing" in eurineland = "Would have happily shined Chairman Mao's shoes."

Posted by: M. Murcek 2024-06-10 07:34

#4 Nice to see "far-right" about 4000 times since yesterday. Gag me....

Posted by: DooDahMan 2024-06-10 07:20

#3 ^It's European Commision - EU parliament just rubber stamps.

Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2024-06-10 07:16

#2 They sure seem to have the authority to redistribute a lot of member states ' money and set harmful policies.

Posted by: M. Murcek 2024-06-10 06:47

#1 But since EU parliaments has no real authority ...

Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2024-06-10 01:12

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