Skip next section Voter turnout estimated at 51%
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
Voter turnout estimated at 51%
A spokesperson for the stated on Sunday that the voter turnout in the was 51%, according to initial estimates.
However, this number might still change as not all EU member states were included.
The 2019 European Parliament elections had a voter turnout of 50.66%.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqcx
Skip next section Polish PM Tusk’s Civic Coalition seen ahead in EU vote exit poll
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
Polish PM Tusk’s Civic Coalition seen ahead in EU vote exit poll
Polish Prime Minister Civic Coalition (KO) was set to win European elections in Poland on Sunday, an exit poll showed.
With war raging in Ukraine and a migrant crisis on the Belarus border, Tusk framed the vote in as a choice between a safe future in a country at the heart of the European Union or a more perilous one if the nationalist (PiS) party, known for its conflicts with Brussels, won.
“We have shown that our choices, our efforts, have a much broader dimension than just our national issues, we haveshown that we are a beacon of hope for Europe,” he told supporters after the exit poll results were announced.
According to the IPSOS exit poll, KO won 38.2% of votes, ahead of PiS who had 33.9%. KO’s partners in the pro-Europeancoalition government which took power in December, the centre-right Third Way and the Left, got 8.2% and 6.6%respectively. The far-right Confederation party scored 11.9%.
If confirmed, the result would mark the end of a decade-long run of first-place election finishes for PiS.
PiS says Tusk, a former European Council president, is subservient to Poland’s larger neighbour Germany and accuses himof hypocrisy for criticising tough PiS policies towards migrants on the Belarus border while in opposition before implementingsimilar measures in government.
Final results are likely to be announced on Monday.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqcQ
Skip next section Von der Leyen vows to ‘build bastion against extremes’
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
Von der Leyen vows to ‘build bastion against extremes’
The center-right European People’s Party (EPP) will build a bastion against radical forces on the right and left, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Preliminary results from the four-day showed the EPP was set to remain the biggest party in the European Parliament, with a projected 181 seats.
“No majority can be formed without the EPP and together … we will build a bastion against the extremes from the left and from the right,” she said.
Von der Leyen is seeking a second five-year term as president of the European Commission, the powerful EU executive arm.
Preliminary election results also showed that far-right, nationalist parties had made the biggest gains in the polls.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqcs
Skip next section Finland’s Left Alliance to make gains — initial results
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
Finland’s Left Alliance to make gains — initial results
In Finland, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s conservative National Coalition Party is projected to win 24.4% of the vote, while the Left Alliance is expected to finish second on 17.4%, according to preliminary results.
The Left Alliance increased its share of the vote by 10.5 percentage points compared to the 2019 EU elections — the biggest increase of any party.
The Social Democrats were in third place and the Center Party was fourth. The right-wing populist Finns Party was on track to finish in sixth place behind the Greens.
Finland is electing 15 lawmakers to the next European Parliament, compared to 13 in 2019.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqW7
Skip next section France’s Macron calls for new elections after EU vote
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
France’s Macron calls for new elections after EU vote
French President has dissolved the National Assembly and after his centrist camp heavily lost to the far-right National Rally (RN) in the country’s .
In an address to the nation, Macron said the outcome was “not a good result for parties who defend Europe” and that he “can’t pretend nothing happened.” He added that the rise of nationalists was a danger for France and Europe.
The first round of elections for the lower house National Assembly will take place on June 30, with the second round on July 7, Macron said.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right RN is projected to be the winner of the country’s vote for the European Parliament election. According to initial results, RN was on track to win 32.4% of the vote, compared to Macron’s centrist Renaissance on 15.2%.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqbC
Skip next section Center-right EPP set to remain largest party in EU parliament: projection
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
Center-right EPP set to remain largest party in EU parliament: projection
The center-right grouping of European political parties, the European People’s Party (EPP), is to remain the largest party in the , according to projections released by Brussels following a 4-day .
The EPP could secure 181 seats in the 720-seat parliament, while the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in second place could pick up 135 seats.
The result, if confirmed, will boost Ursula von der Leyen’s chance of securing a second term as president of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm.
Renew Europe, the liberal, pro-European group is projected to win 82 seats and the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) could receive 71 seats.
The right-wing populist and euroskeptic Identity and Democracy Party (ID) is on course for around 62 seats, followed by 53 for the environmentally friendly Greens.
The Left grouping is projected to win 34 seats, and non-attached parties, which includes the far-right Alternative for Germany, could pick up 51 seats.
The remaining 51 seats are forecast to go to independents and newly elected parties.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqaO
Skip next section French far-right party chief urges Macron to call national elections
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
French far-right party chief urges Macron to call national elections
Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old leader of France’s National Rally (RN) party, urged President to dissolve parliament and call legislative elections after Macron’s alliance suffered a heavy defeat in the elections.
“The president cannot remain deaf to the message given by the French,” Bardella said.
“We request that he takes note of this new political situation and goes back to the French people and organizes new legislative elections.”
The far-right leader said his party was ready to lead France toward a change of government.
RN was on course to win around 33% of the vote, compared to some 15% for Macron’s alliance, according to an exit poll after voting ended Sunday evening.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqaI
Skip next section German liberal FDP leader says EU vote is ‘good news’
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
German liberal FDP leader says EU vote is ‘good news’
The lead candidate for ‘s liberal Free Democrats (FDP) in the Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, says she’s pleased with her party’s performance.
“The fact that it is now a stable 5% is good news,” Strack-Zimmermann said at the party’s headquarters in Berlin.
The projected results are a confirmation of her party’s demands for a change in economic policy, stronger security policy and changes to migration policy, Strack-Zimmermann said.
She emphasized that the party, which is a junior coalition partner in Chancellor center-left government, had roughly maintained its result from the last European elections in 2019.
In that vote five years ago, the FDP gained 5.4% of the vote, compared to 11.5% in the federal elections in 2021.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqYU
Skip next section Le Pen’s party trounces Macron’s in EU vote — exit poll
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
Le Pen’s party trounces Macron’s in EU vote — exit poll
far-right National Rally (RN) is predicted to be the winner of the country’s vote for the European Parliament election, an initial estimate showed on Sunday evening.
Far-right firebrand Marine Le Pen’s party is seen receiving 32.4% of the vote, versus President ‘s centrist Renaissance Camp at 15.2%.
If confirmed, the RN has won a 10 percentage point increase from the last European elections in 2019.
Le Pen and her 28-year-old lead candidate, the increasingly popular Jordan Bardella, had sought to frame the vote as a mid-term referendum on Macron’s mandate, tapping into discontent with immigration, crime and a two-year inflation crisis.
The Socialist-led camp is set to receive 14.3%, according to the IFOP estimate for TF1 Television.
Macron was set to address France later Sunday over the results, the presidency said.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqYS
Skip next section German Greens leader disappointed at EU election result
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
German Greens leader disappointed at EU election result
The co-leader of Germany’s environmentally friendly , Ricarda Lang, has reacted with disappointment at her party’s loss of votes in the European elections.
“This is not the standard we set ourselves when we went into this election, and we will work through this together,” Lang told public broadcaster ARD.
According to exit polls, the Greens are on track to receive around 12% of the vote.
In 2019, they achieved their best result ever in a European election with 20.5%.
The situation today is very different to the previous EU-wide election, Lang said.
People are unsettled, the issue of war and peace was hugely important to voters this time, she said.
A change of policy over the should not be expected from her party now, said Lang, because if Russian President were to win this war, the future would also be less peaceful in Germany, she argued.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqVr
Skip next section Exit polls: Center right leads in EU election in five countries
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
Exit polls: Center right leads in EU election in five countries
The center-right European People’s Party (EPP) was in the lead in the in Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, exit polls and projections from these countries showed on Sunday.
The EPP could end with around 180 of the 720 seats in the new European Parliament, a stable result compared with the 2019 election results.
The result is a boost for Ursula von der Leyen’s chances for another term as president of the , the bloc’s executive arm.
The second strongest group in the new parliament remains the center-left Social Democrats, who could end up with around 135 seats, according to exit polls and projections.
They will be followed by the liberal Renew, which will slip to between 81 and 87 seats, projections show.
The far-right Identity & Democracy (ID) is predicted to get around 70 seats, and the less radical but euroskeptic European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group would return just under 80 seats.
The Greens would lose significantly and end up with far fewer than 60 seats in the European Parliament.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is counted among the non-attached parties, as it was excluded from the ID group shortly before the EU elections.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqVI
Skip next section Voters more skeptical of EU, says leader of Germany’s far-right AfD
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
Voters more skeptical of EU, says leader of Germany’s far-right AfD
The co-leader of the far-right (AfD) said a strong expected showing by her party in was driven by growing skepticism of the .
Exit polls released on Sunday evening put the AfD in second place at around 16%.
said that her party had made significant gains compared to 2019 — when the far-right populists won 11% of the vote — and had become the strongest force in eastern Germany.
The main reason for this was that voters “have become more critical of Europe overall,” she said.
Weidel also credited the AfD with making a strong finish “after a bumpy start to the election campaign,” in which the party was dogged by negative headlines tied to several scandals involving AfD candidates.
Prosecutors in Germany are investigating possible money payments from pro-Russian networks to Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s lead candidate in this election, and Petr Bystron, who the delegates voted into second place on the list of candidates.
In addition, a former top aide to Krah was arrested on suspicion of spying for China.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqVo
Skip next section German center-right opposition leader hails EU exit poll
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
German center-right opposition leader hails EU exit poll
German opposition leader Friedrich Merz of the center-right Christian Democrats () said his party’s expected victory in the European Parliament election shows German voters want a change of course.
His remarks came shortly after the first exit polls were released showing his conservative CDU/CSU bloc with a clear lead at around 30% and the far-right (AfD) in second place.
“Making a real course correction now is urgently necessary in the interests of our country, and I call on the federal government to do so in the coming days,” Merz said.
“With this European election, we are back in first place among the German parties by a wide margin.”
“Things can’t go on as they have over the last two and a half years,” he added. The vote is “really the last warning” for Scholz’s three-party coalition ahead of German parliamentary elections scheduled for the fall of 2025.
Merz contended that the results showed voters turning against the government on issues including migration and economic policy.
Merz also contended that the far-right AfD, which appears set to gain seats in Brussels, has peaked in popularity.
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqUa
Skip next section DW correspondents on party reactions to German EU election exit poll
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
DW correspondents on party reactions to German EU election exit poll
DW’s Chief Political Correspondent Nina Haase said discontent among German voters has been brewing for more than a year as the government struggles to maintain unity among the three parties of the governing coalition amid numerous crises.
“It’s not a new phenomenon that German voters use the EU elections as a way of telling the government that they are doing a bad job,” she said.
“Only 22% [of voters] think the government is doing a good job … especially the way the [coalition] parties are dealing with each other. There’s a lot of infighting. The government, led by the, will have to get their act together if they want a better result at the federal elections next year,” Haase said.
DW’s Chief Political Editor Michaela Küfner, reporting from the ‘s headquarters in Berlin, described the party’s reaction to the exit poll showing the conservatives as the largest party in the European Parliament election in .
“There was a moment of silence as people realized that the gain [for the CDU/CSU] wasn’t that significant. It is likely to be 1 or 2%. It’s not elation here but self-confidence that they are on a trajectory that could see them governing again here in Germany [next year].”
DW correspondent Matthew Moore was at the far-right (AfD) when the exit poll came through showing a 5% gain for the party compared to the 2019 election.
“They [party leaders] say that this result is vindication that they are striking the right note with voters with policies — tough on migration and frankly anti the EU … they want to abolish the European Parliament. They’re going to be in a really strong position to win state elections in eastern Germany in September.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqS9
Skip next section EU election campaigns marred by violence, expert tells DW
06/09/2024June 9, 2024
EU election campaigns marred by violence, expert tells DW
An increase in political violence in Europe may be driven by the many elections taking place this year, Kimberly McArthur from the Berlin-based nonprofit Apolitical Foundation told DW.
In an interview, she said the uptick in violence narrows the diversity of voices in the political system and democracies. Instances of political violence in Germany have doubled in the last five years, affecting politicians across the political spectrum, she added.
“You have this danger of democratic silencing, essentially where politicians and campaigners do not wish to host public consultations or are not interacting as much with citizens because of fear of physical violence, or we might have politicians change how they vote in parliament because of fear of reprisals,” McArthur said.
The fact that several elections are taking place in Europe this year may be driving political violence, she added: “It being a super election year and politics and politicians are essentially much more in the limelight in the public discourse in the media and social media as well.”
Increasing polarization also doesn’t help, she said. “This is where people see those with a different political attitude as the enemy or as simply a bad person, someone that needs to be taken out of the public realm,” McArthur told DW.
Social media is amplifying these problems, and the impact goes beyond the people working in politics, she said.
“This violence sends a very stark message to people considering going into politics, especially if you are a woman or a person from another group that is unrepresented in political power.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4gqNn
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