In Germany and France, the right-wing parties advanced strongly. The German AfD became the second largest party and the national gathering was a success and is now the largest French party in the EU.
It is clear that this will affect the parliament. But exactly how it will affect the EU remains to be seen, says TV4’s Ritva Rönnberg.
Shock. In Germany, the extreme right became the next largest party. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his Social Democrats came third.
At the same time, the French right won by knockout. President Emmanuel Macron lay lifeless in the corner of the ring until he stood up and called new elections.
Marine Le Pen’s National Gathering party became the largest French party in the European Parliament elections. France’s role in the EU will therefore change. Germany’s too. Exactly how remains to be seen.
The French nationalist party, with Marine Le Pen as its best-known figurehead, has just thrown the AfD out of the joint party group, the EU parliamentary group ID.
The reason is a statement by the party’s top candidate at the time that all SS men in Nazi Germany were not criminals.
Putin’s friends end up in the corner of shame
The French nationalists thus overthrew the extreme right from Germany. Both parties are pro-Russia, but the AfD has also flirted with Nazism.
ID, non-party members and others currently make up roughly 150 of the parliament’s 720 seats. But within a few weeks, everything could be different. Among new and old parties there are some of Putin’s friends both in the extreme right such as AfD and the German extreme left such as Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht who want to stop support for Ukraine, cooperate with Russia and stop immigration.
But Putin’s friends here in Brussels end up in the corner of shame. Now we wait to see how big that corner will be.
Stability and tension
There is also stability here. The result is still preliminary – but roughly 400 out of 720 seats in the European Parliament have gone to the three party groups that want to see Ursula von der Leyen continue as president of the European Commission. A majority formed by Europe’s Christian democrats, moderates, social democrats and liberals.
But politics contains some tension. A snap French election could affect the process of appointing Ursula von der Leyen. Does she get France’s support without concessions to the National Assembly?
What does the vote winner Giorgia Meloni say? Italy’s prime minister and right-wing leader expect influence both in parliament and in the circle of heads of government.
Post-election Europe has a lot to sort out when the dust settles and all the sheriffs are in place; climate, security and Europe’s ability to make money, to name just a few.