EU elections: what's the upshot?
The votes are still being counted but the winners and losers of the EU elections are already emerging: the conservative EPP and far-right groups ECR and ID have gained seats in the single-digit range, while the Greens and Liberals have lost seats in the double-digit range. Commentators focus on the weak performance of the ruling parties in Paris and Berlin.
Paris-Berlin axis weaker than before
The losses of the main governing parties in Germany and France are even worse than expected, observes Seznam Zprávy:
“President Macron and Chancellor Scholz will have to defend their positions, above all at the domestic level. This means that European activities will fall by the wayside, at least for the time being. We can therefore give up any expectation of fundamental progress or changes on the key points of the European agenda such as the Green Deal, migration or support for Ukraine.”
Europe stalled
La Repubblica is also disappointed:
“If France and Germany were supposed to continue being Europe's locomotive, yesterday the train stopped, stalling the whole process of strengthening the Union. ... The right is blocking Europe's progress. It is capitalising on the insecurity, bewilderment, anger and political loneliness of the citizens using the slogans of a rebellion that rewards the most extreme and radical forces. ... Now the right is waving its flags in Paris and Berlin as if the lessons of the last century had been forgotten.”
Dark clouds over the Seine
The election result in France and the snap election announced by President Macron could have an even wider impact, Polityka fears:
“At a critical moment, an anti-European group that at one time had clear financial ties to the Kremlin could take power in one of Europe's most important capitals. In France alone, this could trigger a crisis that Europe absolutely cannot afford at the moment. In almost all countries (including Poland), radical groups were among the winners of Sunday's elections - so the picture is becoming less and less optimistic. Dark clouds are looming over the Seine - and they look set to spread across liberal Europe.”
Far right remains a minority
Europe won't necessarily become more right-wing as a result of the growth of parties to the right of the EPP, writes El País:
“This is not a generalised wave, but rather a gradual spread. ... Their victory should not be overrated: they remain a minority. They are an ill-fated political family whose 19th-century nationalism will prevent them from acting with a cohesion comparable to that of the Social Democrats or the People's Party. And the normalisation of the far right in the European institutions will only expose its internal problems. ... The result will not necessarily be a more right-wing Europe, but one with greater ideological room for manoeuvre. It will be up to the other groups to move within these parameters.”
Sweden: pragmatic Greens were rewarded
In a surprise development Sweden's Green Party came in third, ahead of the Sweden Democrats. Dagens Nyheter knows why:
“'Climate, Climate, Climate', the election posters read. ... One obvious conclusion is that if they focus solely on the climate, the Greens can win back people outside their traditional core electorate. Many Swedes had come to see the Greens as a kind of Left Party light, which isn't considered an interesting option. ... The EU is one of the key global players for a new, modern climate policy, and voters know it. One month before the election, 30 percent of respondents in a survey by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation named climate and environmental protection as the most important issues.”
Fidesz facing major problems
In Hungary, Péter Magyar's newly founded Tisza party won 30 percent of the vote while Viktor Orbán's ruling Fidesz party dropped below 50 percent. This should give Fidesz food for thought, writes political scientist Gábor Török on his Facebook blog:
“Of course these elections aren't a total failure for Fidesz, but the lower than expected result (its worst ever by far) and above all the unprecedented rise of Tisza indicate serious problems and at the same time are a source of yet other woes. ... The government's situation is further complicated by the fact that after the elections it will probably have no choice but to pursue a stricter budgetary policy than before.”
Slovakia: liberals beat Fico's Smer
The Slovakian ruling party Smer failed to capitalise on the assassination attempt against its leader Robert Fico, writes Aktuality.sk:
“The Smer campaign 'For Robert Fico' should have been able to mobilise a decisive mass of people who, like Smer and Fico, hold the opposition and the media partly responsible for the attack. But this campaign wasn't enough. The liberal Progressive Slovakia (PS) was even more mobilised, fulfilling its slogan that Smer can't have everything. The PS victory is therefore good news, especially for its voters, who were frustrated after the early elections in 2023 and the presidential elections in 2024.”