EU elections: Far right makes gains in Germany, France

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 European Parliament, according to projections released by Brussels following a 4-day EU-wide election.

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.

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 far-right National Rally (RN) party, urged President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve parliament and call legislative elections after Macron's alliance suffered a heavy defeat in the European Parliament 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.

06/09/2024June 9, 2024

German liberal FDP leader says EU vote is 'good news'

The lead candidate for Germany's liberal Free Democrats (FDP) in the European Parliament elections,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 Olaf Scholz's 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.

06/09/2024June 9, 2024

Le Pen's party trounces Macron's in EU vote — exit poll

France's 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 Emmanuel Macron'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.

06/09/2024June 9, 2024

German Greens leader disappointed at EU election result

The co-leader of Germany's environmentally friendly Green Party, 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 war in Ukraine should not be expected from her party now, said Lang, because if Russian President Vladimir Putin were to win this war, the future would also be less peaceful in Germany, she argued.

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 European Parliament elections 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 European  Commission, 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.

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 Alternative for Germany (AfD) said a strong expected showing by her party in European Parliament elections was driven by growing skepticism of the European Union.

Exit polls released on Sunday evening put the AfD in second place at around 16%.

Alice Weidel 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.

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 (CDU) 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 Alternative for Germany (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.

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 theSocial Democrats, 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 CDU'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 Germany.

"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 Alternative for Germany (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."

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."

06/09/2024June 9, 2024

German SPD leader calls EU elections 'tough defeat'

The general secretary of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD), Kevin Kühnert, said his party was bracing for "a very bitter result" in the European parliamentary elections.

Exit polls suggest the party is on track to finish in third place with 14% of the vote — behind the conservative opposition CDU/CSU bloc and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

"This is a tough defeat for us today," Kühnert told public broadcaster ARD.

If confirmed, the result would mark the party's worst performance in a democratic German nationwide election.

Kühnert said the SPD needed to come to terms with the result and review any mistakes.

06/09/2024June 9, 2024

In Italy, EU vote a 'referendum' on Meloni

DW correspondent in Rome Bernd Riegert reports that the main question in Italy this EU election concerns the performance of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

"Her slogan is just 'Vote for Giorgia,' so voters think this is a referendum on the performance of the right-wing government that has been in office for 18 months and has been quite successful and stable," said Riegert.

Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy is expected to put on a strong showing in the EU vote. And Meloni is running as the preferential candidate for her party, even though she has no intention of taking a European parliamentary seat.

Bernd added that Meloni wants to know from her constituency if they like what she is doing. "So far it seems this is the case because she will win the biggest chunk of votes in this election," he said.

He also noted that her decision to take a more moderate course compared to other right-wing parties in Italy seems to be attracting voters.

Polling stations in Italy are due to close at 11 p.m. local time (2100 UTC/GMT). 

06/09/2024June 9, 2024

Exit poll: Center-right CDU/CSU bloc set to win EU vote in Germany

Germany's center-right CDU/CSU bloc is projected to come out on top in German voting for members of the European ParliamentImage: Erik-Holm Langhof/EHL Media/IMAGO

Germany's opposition conservative alliance is likely to win the national vote for the European Parliament election, an exit poll published shortly after voting stations closed Sunday predicted.

The center-right CDU/CSU bloc is projected to receive some 30.5% of the vote.

The far-right Alternative for Germany Party  (AfD) is forecast to come second, with 16.5% support — a 5.5% increase on 2019.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) are set to come in at around 14%, the exit poll from Infratest Dimap showed.

The projection shows a nearly 2% loss for the SPD since the 2019 election, with the CDU/CSU bloc picking up 1% support.

The prospects are not much better for Scholz's two other coalition partners.

At around 12% in the exit polls, the Greens are nearly 9 percentage points below the impressive 20.5% they achieved in 2019.

The liberal Free Democrats (FDP), meanwhile, are projected to garner only 5%, down slightly from the last election.

The populist leftist BSW party started last year by former Socialist party lawmaker Sahra Wagenknecht is expected to win about 5.5% support, according to the exit poll.

06/09/2024June 9, 2024

Far-right party leads in Austria EU elections: exit poll

Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) is leading in the country's election for the European Parliament, projections showed Sunday evening.

The forecast puts the FPÖ on 27% support, the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) on 23.5% and the Social Democrats (SPÖ) on 23%.

The projection shows support for the FPÖ up nearly 10 percentage points since the last European elections in 2019. Support for the ÖVP, which governs Austria, is down 11.1% compared to 2019.

During the election campaign, theFPÖ often emphasized its skepticism towards the EU under the slogan "Stop the EU madness" and portrayed the EU as a warmongering force in the Ukraine conflict. 

The forecast suggests that the environmentally friendly Greens will win 10.5% support, while the liberal NEOS could get around 10.5%.

The forecast is based on surveys of 3,600 people carried out in the past week for national broadcaster ORF, Puls 24 TV and news agency APA.

The poll has a margin of error of 2.5% percentage points.

Austria has 20 of the future 720 seats in the European Parliament.

Preliminary results from across the EU are expected later Sunday evening.

06/09/2024June 9, 2024

Signs voter turnout in Germany may be higher than in 2019

One in three eligible German voters had exercised their right to vote in the EU elections by the early afternoon, suggesting greater interest in the polls than five years ago. 

By 2 p.m. local time (1200 GMT/UTC), 32.3% had cast their ballots, the Federal Returning Officer announced. The provisional turnout figure was determined on the basis of the turnout at selected polling stations and excluded postal votes. 

In 2019, the Federal Returning Officer reported a voter turnout of 29.4% at 2 p.m. The overall voter turnout for the 2019 European elections was 61.4%. 

Polling stations in Germany are open until 6 p.m. local time.