BRUSSELS (AP) — Polling stations opened across Europe on Sunday as voters in 20 countries cast their ballots in elections that are expected to shift the European Union’s parliament to the right and potentially reshape the future of the world’s largest trading bloc.
The war in Ukraine, immigration and the impact of climate change policies on farmers are some of the issues weighing on voters’ minds. Vote Elect 720 members European Parliament.
More than 50 countries will hold elections in 2024
Polls show that mainstream and pro-European parties will maintain their majority in parliament, but the far-right, including parties led by politicians such as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Marine Le Pen in France, are expected to lose seats.
This would make it more difficult for Europe to pass legislation and take decisions.
EU lawmakers have a say on issues ranging from financial regulation to climate and agricultural policy. They oversee infrastructure projects, farm subsidies and Aid arrives in UkraineAnd they have veto power over appointments to the powerful EU Commission.
The election comes at a critical time for the EU, which has a population of around 450 million people. Rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, Economic downturn and Energy Crisis It sparked Europe’s biggest land dispute since World War II, but the political movement has often focused on the concerns of individual countries rather than the interests of Europe as a whole.
Sunday’s voting marathon will conclude a four-day electoral cycle that began in the Netherlands on Thursday.
Unofficial exit polls showed Geert Wilders’ far-right, anti-immigration party coming in first. Important Benefits This is despite the fact that in the Netherlands, a coalition government of pro-European parties has likely pushed it into second place.
Since the last EU elections in 2019, populist or far-right parties have led governments in three countries – Hungary, Slovakia and Italy – and are part of governing coalitions in other countries, including Sweden, Finland and soon the Netherlands. Opinion polls show populist parties leading the way in Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Sweden, Finland and soon the Netherlands. France, Belgium, Austria and Italy.
“To be right is to be good,” Hungary’s hardline nationalist, anti-immigration Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters after the vote. “Going right is always good. Go right!”
The election will be followed by a period of bargaining as parties rethink their position in the continental political union that runs the European Parliament.
The largest political group, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), has moved to the right in this election on issues such as security and immigration.
One of the most popular questions is: Italian Brothers The ruling party of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, a far-right populist with neo-fascist roots, will either remain with the more hardline European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) or join a new far-right grouping that may be formed after the elections, with Meloni also having the option of cooperating with the European People’s Party (EPP).
A more worrying scenario for pro-European parties would be for the European Liberals to ally with Le Pen’s Identity Democracy party to strengthen the influence of far-right forces.
The second largest group, the centre-left Socialists and Democrats, as well as the Greens, reject cooperation with the ECR.
There are also questions about which group Orban’s ruling Fidesz party, which was previously part of the European People’s Party, will join. Kicked out It was dissolved in 2021 due to conflicts over interests and values.
The elections also usher in a period of uncertainty as new leaders are chosen to steer the European project, with lawmakers vying for position within the union and national governments competing to secure top EU positions for their own officials.
The most important of these is the presidency of the European Commission, a powerful executive body that proposes laws and ensures that they are followed. The Commission also holds the EU’s purse strings, regulates trade and is Europe’s competition watchdog.
Other senior posts include the President of the European Council, who presides over summits of presidents and prime ministers, and the Chief of EU Foreign Policy, the EU’s top diplomat.
Unofficial estimates are due to trickle in from 16:15 GMT. Official results from the election, held every five years, will start to be published after the last polling station in Italy’s 27 EU member states closes at 11pm (21:00 GMT), but it will not be clear until Monday what the new parliament will look like.
