Overview of the EU elections

Right-wing parties are becoming significantly stronger, but …

Le Pen, Orbán and Meloni came first with their parties.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP)

Right-wing parties have achieved major successes in the European elections in several countries. In France, right-wing successes even led to a political scandal. However, pro-European parties remain clearly in the majority, as a look at the countries shows. An overview.

Italy, France, Germany, Austria and many more: right-wing parties won many seats in the European elections. Similar to the domestic election campaign, national issues dominated the election internationally. In France, this has now led to a political earthquake. Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National party won by a clear margin, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call an early election to the National Assembly.

In Austria, the FPÖ became the strongest party. In Germany, the AfD achieved its best result to date and came second behind the CDU/CSU.

Right-wingers win, pro-Europeans predominate
Across Europe, the two previous right-wing populist party alliances EKR and ID made significant gains in some cases. Overall, however, the clearly pro-European camp remains by far the largest in the European Parliament. Even if all right-wing parties were to join forces, they would probably have fewer than 200 seats and would therefore be far from a majority. This is 361 seats.

The winner of the European elections is the center-right EPP alliance with the German lead candidate Ursula von der Leyen. The CDU politician can hope for a second term as President of the EU Commission.

Post-fascist clears the field
According to a projection by TV station Rai, Meloni's party achieved 27.7% in Italy - an increase of more than 20 points compared to the 2019 European elections. A left-wing alliance led by the social democratic PD came second with 23.7 percent.

Meloni was also the lead candidate of the Fratelli d'Italia, which has its origins in the post-fascist movement. However, she does not want to move to the European Parliament, but wants to remain in Rome as Prime Minister. The 47-year-old has led a coalition of three right-wing parties since October 2022. With the current result, her influence at European level is likely to increase.

AfD particularly strong in the east
In Germany, the European elections were also an important mood test ahead of the three state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September and the Bundestag elections next year. The fact that the AfD is in first place by a large margin in eastern Germany is particularly significant.

Despite the controversies surrounding its lead candidate, the party has made strong gains nationwide. According to projections, it achieved between 15.8% and 15.9%, an increase of almost five points compared to 2019. It therefore performed better than all of the parties in the coalition - the SPD came in at 14%, the Greens at 11.9% and the FDP at 5.1%. However, the CDU/CSU was far behind in first place with 30.2% to 30.3%.

The AfD result was weaker than in polls at the beginning of the year. At that time, it had temporarily reached more than 20 percent. However, accusations against its lead candidate Maximilian Krah and the number two on the European election list, Petr Bystron, caused difficulties for the party.

Hangover mood in Paris
The European elections are a bitter defeat for French President Macron. According to projections, the right-wing nationalist party Rassemblement National (RN) led by Marine Le Pen won around 32% - more than twice as much as Macron's camp. As a consequence, the head of state announced a new election for the lower house of parliament, with two rounds scheduled for June 30 and July 7. "So I can't pretend at the end of this day that nothing has happened," he said.

Macron's center camp was already weakened. It has not had an absolute majority in the National Assembly since 2022. Governing has been difficult since then. The focus is also on the presidential election in just under three years' time. Macron, who beat Le Pen twice in the run-off, is not allowed to run again. It is still unclear who the centrists will send into the race and who would stand a chance against Le Pen. The daughter of far-right party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen has managed to present a much more moderate image and make the party electable right up to the middle-class camp.

Macron addressed the nation after the election defeat.

(Bild: AFP/Ludovic MARIN)

In Hungary, right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was able to cement the supremacy of his Fidesz party. It is ahead with 43.8 percent of the vote. In the Netherlands, right-wing populist Geert Wilders led his Eurosceptic Party for Freedom (PVV) to second place and secured six seats.

Are new political groups forming?
In principle, finding a majority in the European Parliament could become even more difficult. The future balance of power there will also depend on whether parties from the previous right-wing alliances ECR and ID form a new alliance. France's Marine Le Pen recently lobbied the Italian head of government Meloni for this.

It is likely that the center-right EPP alliance will hold talks with the Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens in the next few days in order to agree on a loose cooperation, which could then also secure a majority for von der Leyen's election. Theoretically, possibilities for cooperation with individual right-wing parties could also be explored. The EPP, for example, did not rule out cooperation with Meloni before the election. Her Fratelli d'Italia have so far belonged to the right-wing conservative ECR group.