European elections: Slovakia votes as far-right seeks gains

• Polls show the far right is poised to make significant gains in the European Parliament elections
• Italian, Estonian, Latvian, Maltese, Czech, and Slovakian voters are all casting their ballots on Saturday
• The Netherlands' electorate boosted the party of anti-immigration eurosceptic Geert Wilders into second place
• Most of the EU's 27 countries — including Germany and France — hold their votes on Sunday.

Here's a look at what's happening in the European elections on Saturday, June 8

06/08/2024June 8, 2024

Far-right expected to make an impact

Political analysts have predicted that center-left and green parties will lose seats to both the far and center-right in this round of European Parliament elections.

The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) predicted early this year a "sharp right turn" with anti-EU parties winning in nine EU countries — including Belgium, Italy, and France. 

Such an outcome would threaten the majority held by parties from the three traditional mainstream groupings: the center-right European People's Party (EPP); the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D): and the liberal-centrist Renew Europe. 

The far-right nationalist Identity and Democracy (ID) and its less radical but eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) both have big hopes. 

It's thought that ID — which recently expelled Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) — could win 67 seats, with the ECR picking up 74. 

That would bring the total to 141 seats — a leap of more than 23 seats compared to the current total in the 720-seat parliament. 

Meanwhile, the more centrist parties of EPP, S&D, and Renew are projected to win 407 seats together, representing a slimmer majority but still potentially enough to preserve the working majority in place since 2019.

rc/rmt (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)