Far-right parties increase their influence in Europe, but not in Scandinavia.
People across 27 European Union countries were called on to elect their new parliament in Strasbourg, with key nations like Germany and France participating. Right-wing populists seem to be making gains overall, but not everywhere.
For real-time updates on the European election, check out the live ticker.
In Germany, the traffic light parties, especially the Greens, are predicted to face losses. Estimates suggest that the Union could come in first with around 30%, the AfD with 16%, and the SPD with 14%. The AfD is expected to make significant gains despite multiple scandals during the campaign. Meanwhile, the Greens are projected to lose approximately 8.6 percentage points from 11.9%. The Left Alliance, headed by Sahra Wagenknecht, is said to have won 6% of the votes from scratch.
In Denmark, initial projections show that the liberal Venstre Party is losing a lot of votes. The party that led in the 2019 election could lose nearly 9.4 percentage points, resulting in 13.9%. On the other hand, the socialist People's Party is projected to secure 18.4% - a 5.2 percentage point increase from 2019. They are in a close race with the Social Democrats, whose prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, receives 15.4%. Denmark has 15 seats in the European Parliament.
Finland's Socialist Left Alliance is projected to receive almost 17.3% of the votes and gain 10.4 percentage points compared to the European election five years ago. The Socialist Left Alliance leader, Li Andersson, expressed shock at the voting success. The National Coalition Party, led by conservative Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, is expected to be the strongest party with 24.7% of the votes. The right-wing populist party The Finns, which is allied with Orpo's party on a national level, only receives 7.6% of the votes - 6.2 percentage points less than in 2019.
France's President Emmanuel Macron's alliance is expected to suffer a defeat. The right-wing party Rassemblement National of Marine Le Pen is projected to win with 32%. Macron responds by dissolving the National Assembly and setting new elections for June 30 and July 7.
Greece's Nea Demokratia party, led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is expected to take the lead with roughly 30% of the votes. Syriza, the party that governed under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during the financial crisis from 2010 to 2018, is said to have received about 17% of the votes.
Italy's Minister President Giorgia Meloni's right-wing party, Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), is forecasted to win the European election. The largest government party is expected to receive between 26 and 30% of the votes. The second-strongest party is the Democratic Party, followed by the Five-Star Movement.
Malta's social democratic government party Labour is expected to suffer significant losses, according to the first results. They might only take three of the six Maltese seats in the European Parliament, while the conservative opposition party Nationalist Party could secure two to three seats.
The Netherlands held their elections already on Thursday. The winner could be the red-green alliance of Social Democrats and Greens with 21.6%, while the right-wing populist Geert Wilders' PVV party could receive 17.7%, according to estimates offered by the European Parliament. Wilders' party failed to make it into parliament at the last European election.
Austria's right-wing populist FPO is predicted to be in first place for the first time. It is projected to achieve 25.5% according to preliminary results. The conservative OVP and the social democratic SPO follow the FPO.
Poland's civil coalition (KO) of Prime Minister Donald Tusk is expected to win against the nationalist PiS. According to the Ipsos survey, the KO is expected to get 38.2%, while the PiS receives 33.9%. This could mark the end of a series of PiS election victories that lasted for a decade.
Sweden's Social Democrats are expected to maintain their position as the strongest force in the European elections. They are predicted to secure 23.1% according to a first forecast of the Swedish broadcaster SVT. The Moderates come in second place. The Greens are projected to see the biggest increase with 4.2 percentage points more than in the European elections 2019 - they are expected to reach 15.7% according to the forecast. The right-wing populist Sweden Democrats are the fourth-strongest force with 13.9%, losing a total of 1.4 percentage points compared to the election five years ago. The Left Party gains 3.9 points to 10.7%. Sweden has 21 seats in the European Parliament.
In Slovakia, the left-wing populist party led by Prime Minister Robert Fico fails to achieve the anticipated success. Instead, the liberal group Progressive Slovakia surprises everyone with 27.8% of the votes. Reacting to this outcome, Fico's Smer-SD party posts on Facebook to congratulate Progressive Slovakia and their newly-elected EU representatives. This surprising result came amidst the recent shooting incident that left Fico severely injured. The right-wing extremist group Republika places third with 12.5% of the votes.
Meanwhile, in Spain, the conservative People's Party is declared the leading force by the electoral authority with 34.18% of the votes. The ruling Socialists PSOE, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, follow closely with 30.19%. The right-wing populist party Vox manages to score significant gains, placing third with 9.62% of the votes. An additional right-wing party, Salf, attains 4.58% of the votes. The left-wing coalition partner Sumar, associated with the PSOE, struggles to gain only 4.65%, and the left-alternative bloc Podemos earns 3.27%. The election saw a focus on national issues as its dominant theme.
In Hungary, the ruling Fidesz party, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, takes the lead in the European elections. As per initial results, Fidesz garners 43.8% of the votes. The opposition party Tisza comes in second place with 31% of the votes. After counting 40% of the votes, Fidesz takes home eleven seats while Tisza secures seven.
