As expected, right-wing populist parties gained significant support in many countries, while in others support for the centre-right regime remained strong, and in some countries left-wing parties made surprising gains.
The main preliminary results can be summarised as follows:
Austria
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he had heard “messages” from voters and wanted to address their concerns, including a crackdown on “illegal immigration”, ahead of a general election due later this year.
Nehammer was speaking after final results were revealed in Austria’s European elections, showing the far-right Free Democrats (FPOe) coming in first with 25.7% of the vote, slightly ahead of the ruling conservative People’s Party (OeVP) on 24.7%.
The Social Democrats (SPOe) came third with 23.2%, while the Greens, who currently govern in Austria as junior partners to the conservatives, fell from 14% in 2019 to 10.7%.
Herbert Kieck, leader of the anti-immigration Free Democrats, praised the “history written by the voters” and said it had opened “a new era in Austrian and European politics.” The Free Democrats are expected to win the popular vote in national elections due in September, but it remains to be seen whether they can find a partner to form a governing majority.
Belgium
Belgium also held general and local elections on Sunday, making it a triple election.
The country’s seats in the European Parliament are split between the far-right Vlaams Veran, the French-speaking liberal Movement for Reform and the nationalist N-VA (New Flemish Union), each of which received around 13% of the vote.
The far-right party Vlaams Verand made progress on its previous results, coming in first by a narrow margin, but not as far as opinion polls had predicted.
Denmark
The Nordic countries bucked the overall trend in EU elections, with left-wing and Green parties gaining ground while far-right parties saw a decline in support.
In Denmark, the Socialist People’s Party (SF) unexpectedly rose to become the largest party with 17.4% of the vote, up 4.2 percentage points from its 2019 result (when all votes were counted). The ruling Social Democrats fell 5.9 percentage points to 15.6% of the vote.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said SF was politically the party closest to the Social Democrats and she was pleased to see left-wing parties gaining strength.
“The right is making great strides across much of Europe. In Denmark we stand out,” she said in an Instagram post.
France
Perhaps the most surprising reaction to the surge in support for populist parties was that of French President Emmanuel Macron, who had called for early legislative elections after a major defeat for Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party.
Projections showed the RN winning around 32% of the French vote, more than double the roughly 15% won by Macron’s League.
“We can’t act as if nothing happened,” Macron said as he announced the vote for the national parliamentary elections on June 30. “I have decided to give you a choice.”
On the left, France’s long-embattled Socialist party surged to 14 percent of the vote, promising more ambitious climate policies and protections for European businesses and workers.
Germany
The unpopular coalition government of centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz was defeated by the conservative opposition, while the conservative coalition led by the Christian Democratic Union maintained its position as Germany’s strongest party in Brussels with more than 30% of the vote.
Projections showed Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats were on track to receive 14% support, their worst performance in a national vote since World War Two.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has seen its support grow despite a series of scandals surrounding its two leading candidates for the European Parliament, while Germany’s Green Party, at the heart of globally significant EU climate policy, has seen its support fall.
Hungary
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party won the most votes but its worst performance in years. Orbán’s party was expected to win an estimated 43% of the vote, but while it won the most votes, it was down nearly 10 percentage points from its approval rating in the last EU elections in 2019.
Peter Magyar, who left Orban’s party in February, has built Hungary’s strongest opposition in just a few months, and his Respect and Freedom (TISZA) party was predicted to win 31 percent of the vote.
In a speech to his supporters, Magyar called the elections a Waterloo for the Fidesz government and “the beginning of the end.”
Italy
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanked voters after exit polls showed his far-right Brothers of Italy party won about 28% of the vote, beating its centre-left rival by about 25%.
Meloni’s party has more than doubled its number of seats in the European Parliament since the last election and is expected to gain even more support in 2022 than it did in the last general election.
The Five Star Movement came in third with 10.5%, its worst performance at national level since it was founded in 2009.
The only disappointment for all parties may be turnout, which early data suggests was just under 50% – the lowest on record in a country with historically high voter turnout.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ far-right party fell short of expectations, coming in second to the Left-Green coalition.
The Liberal Party won 17% of the vote, compared with 21% for the Left-Green coalition led by former European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans.
Poland
Former EU leader and current Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk narrowly defeated the opposition Law and Justice party, which ruled the country from 2015 to 2023, shifting the country further to the right.
According to the poll, Tusk’s party won with just over 37% support, compared with 35% for his rival.
“Among all these big and ambitious EU leaders, Poland has shown that democracy, integrity and Europe can prevail,” Tusk told supporters. “I am very moved. We have shown that we are a beacon of hope for Europe.”
Spain
The leader of Spain’s conservative People’s Party (PP) has hailed the start of a new “political cycle” after the party narrowly overtook the ruling Socialist party to take the top spot in the polls.
Last night, the PP won 22 seats with 34.2% of the vote, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) won 20 seats with 30.2% of the vote, and the far-right Vox party came in third with 6 seats (2 more than in 2019) with 9.6% of the vote. Another far-right faction, Se Acabó la Fiesta (The Party is Finished), made a spectacular debut, winning three seats, the same number as PSOE’s coalition partner, the left-wing Sumar Platform party. Podemos, once seen as a potential candidate to overtake PSOE, saw its number of seats reduced from six to just two. Ahora Repúblicas, a coalition of regional nationalist parties including Catalan and Basque groupings, won three seats.
PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, who had sought to present the election as a referendum on the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, welcomed the results, noting that his party received 700,000 more votes than the Socialists.
“We are witnessing a new political cycle,” he said. “We face new political responsibilities, which we accept with humility and statesmanship. It is clear that walls have been lost and we will again build bridges in their place. It is clear that the rhetoric of fear has not won.”
Sanchez congratulated the PP but said Sunday’s election results showed it was “the only candidate for power capable of confronting the far-right wave that is sweeping Europe and Spain,” adding: “We will continue to work to consolidate a Europe of progress and development.”
On Monday, Yolanda Diaz, Spain’s labor minister and one of Mr. Sánchez’s three deputies, announced she would step down as leader of the Smar party following the party’s disappointing result on Sunday.
