<\/p>\n
Far-right parties made big gains in the European Parliament<\/span> in election results that rattled the traditional powers and made French President Emmanuel Macron call snap legislative elections. <\/p>\n Macron\u2019s party suffered a heavy defeat from the far-right National Rally party, while in Germany support for Olaf Scholz\u2019s center-left Social Democrats sank to a projected 14%, behind the extreme-right Alternative for Germany, which surged into second place.<\/p>\n Millions of Europeans voted for candidates to serve five-year terms in a new European Parliament<\/span>, the legislative branch of the 27-member trade bloc. Provisional results from the voting that ended Sunday showed the Christian Democrats would have 189 seats, up 13, the Social Democrats 135, down 4 and the pro-business Renew group 83, down 19. The Greens slumped to 53, down 18.<\/p>\n Currently:<\/p>\n \u2014 France\u2019s Macron calls a snap election<\/span> after heavy defeat<\/p>\n \u2014 Italy\u2019s Meloni<\/span> gets domestic and European boosts from win <\/p>\n \u2014 Far-right Alternative for Germany<\/span> make gains<\/p>\n \u2014 Poland\u2019s centrist premier Tusk<\/span> is strengthened by EU election win<\/p>\n \u2014 Orb\u00e1n\u2019s party<\/span> takes most votes, but challenger scores big win<\/p>\n \u2014 Complex coalition talks loom after Belgium\u2019s federal election<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014 Bulgarians vote<\/span> for new national parliament and for EU lawmakers<\/p>\n \u2014 What happened in some of the key races<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the latest:<\/p>\n PARIS \u2014 France\u2019s foreign minister said Monday that President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s decision to call snap elections after the far right\u2019s triumph in the European elections was not \u201ca poker move\u201d but \u201ca bet on confidence in the French people.\u201d <\/p>\n St\u00e9phane S\u00e9journ\u00e9 said Macron did not take lightly the decision to dissolve the lower house of parliament and call for early elections, which are to start with a first round on June 30 and a second round on July 7.<\/p>\n He said the president\u2019s coalition partners are now discussing election plans internally while also seeking cooperation with \u201creasonable people\u201d on the left and right. The aim of the moderate forces is to win, he said.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s the French people who will decide \u201con the economic and political future of France and its role in world,\u201d S\u00e9journ\u00e9 said in an interview with public broadcaster France Info on Monday. <\/p>\n COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Greens and left-leaning parties emerged as winners in the three Nordic EU members, underlying how environmental issues remain a focus of concern for many in that region.<\/p>\n Sweden, Denmark and Finland defied a trend seen across much of the EU in which far-right parties surged due to concerns over migration.<\/p>\n In Sweden, the far-right Sweden Democrats, who have been gaining support for years and became the second-largest party in 2022 national elections, came in fourth place on Sunday.<\/p>\n Christine Nissen, an analyst with the Copenhagen based think tank Europa, said Monday that security remains the top issue for voters in the Nordics, followed by climate and the green transition.<\/p>\n Many traditional parties in past years have adopted tough stances on migration.<\/p>\n In Denmark, pro-European Union parties prevailed, with the climate-friendly Socialist People\u2019s Party making the largest gains. They were followed by the Social Democrats and the Liberals, which are both in the government.<\/p>\n In Finland, the governing conservative National Coalition Party garnered the most votes, nearly 25%. However, the Left Alliance made gains and the populist Finns Party lost its share compared to the last EU election, getting just 6%.<\/p>\n PARIS \u2014 The president of France\u2019s lower house of parliament says the president was not forced to dismiss the National Assembly but did so to show he was responsive to voters.<\/p>\n President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the legislature and called a snap election Sunday night after his party was handed a humbling defeat by the far-right in the European elections.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were other paths,\u201d said Ya\u00ebl Braun-Pivet, who has presided over the National Assembly since last the legislative elections in June 2022. But, Braun-Pivet, a member of Macron\u2019s Renaissance party, said the president acted swiftly to \u201cface reality\u201d and to show that he has heard the voters\u2019 message. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are told too often that we do not hear, that we are cut off from the people, and there, the president took a decision following a very clear vote by the French,\u201d Braun-Pivet said in an interview with French public broadcaster on Monday.<\/p>\n VIENNA \u2013 Austria\u2019s far-right Freedom Party is celebrating a narrow win in the European Parliament election as the country looks forward to a national vote expected in September.<\/p>\n The Freedom Party took 25.7% of the vote on Sunday, finishing in first place in a nationwide election for the first time. It was followed by Chancellor Karl Nehammer\u2019s conservative Austrian People\u2019s Party with 24.7% and the center-left opposition Social Democrats with 23.2%. The Greens, Nehammer\u2019s junior coalition partners, took 10.7% of the vote.<\/p>\n Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl said in a statement that \u201cthis election result means nothing less than that Austrians have made history today.\u201d He said the party will continue to work to take the chancellor\u2019s job later this year.<\/p>\n Nehammer acknowledged that there is \u201cgreat dissatisfaction,\u201d the Austria Press Agency reported. He vowed that his party will convince voters it takes their concerns seriously over the coming months by acting against irregular migration and overregulation.<\/p>\n LJUBLJANA, Slovenia \u2013 The right-wing opposition Slovenian Democratic Party has won the most votes in the EU election in Slovenia, dealing a blow to the ruling liberal Freedom Movement of Prime Minister Robert Golob.<\/p>\n The opposition SDS won 30.8%, or four out of Slovenia\u2019s nine parliamentary seats, while Golob\u2019s party won 22.1%, or two mandates, according to the election authorities. The remaining three seats went to smaller parties.<\/p>\n SDS leader Janez Jansa, a staunchly anti-immigrant ally of Hungary\u2019s hard-line Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n, urged the ruling coalition to dissolve parliament and call a snap election.<\/p>\n Golob, however, said he was happy with the result and that overall center-left parties won more votes than right-leaning groups.<\/p>\n BERLIN \u2013 Final results in Germany confirm a clear win for mainstream opposition conservatives, a second-place finish for the far-right Alternative for Germany party and a dismal showing by the three governing parties in the European Parliament election.<\/p>\n Official figures Monday showed the center-right Union bloc taking 30% of the vote. Alternative for Germany took 15.9%.<\/p>\n Chancellor Olaf Scholz\u2019s center-left Social Democrats won only 13.9% of the vote for their worst post-World War II showing yet in a nationwide election. Their two coalition partners, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, took 11.9% and 5.2% respectively.<\/p>\n All were significantly below their results in Germany\u2019s 2021 national election. The Greens suffered painful losses compared with the 2019 European election.<\/p>\n The new BSW party took 6.2% of the vote.<\/p>\n Germany has 96 of the new European Parliament\u2019s 720 seats. Of those, 29 went to the Union, 15 to Alternative for Germany, 14 to the Social Democrats, 12 to the Greens, five to the Free Democrats and six to BSW. The rest went to a string of smaller parties.<\/p>\n WARSAW, Poland \u2014 The centrist party of Poland\u2019s Prime Minister Donald Tusk won the most votes, according to official results, giving it its first electoral victory over a right-wing populist party in a decade.<\/p>\n Many people across Europe hailed Tusk\u2019s return to power last year as a rare case of a democratic party prevailing over populist and authoritarian forces. While Sunday\u2019s voting solidified Tusk\u2019s position, the results published Monday also showed that his lead is small, and that support for the far right is rising.<\/p>\n His Civic Coalition took 37.1% of the votes in Sunday\u2019s EU election. Law and Justice, the party led by Jaros\u0142aw Kaczy\u0144ski that held power from 2015 until last year, got 36.2%. That underlined the continued attraction of its nationalist and conservative worldview to many Polish voters, despite reports of corruption during its years in power.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a far-right party, Confederation, had its best result ever, coming third with 12.1% \u2014 in line with an EU-wide surge of support for nationalist, anti-EU parties.<\/p>\n ROME \u2014 Initial projections based on 18% of votes counted in Italy indicate Premier Giorgia Meloni\u2019s far-right Brothers of Italy party has won the largest percentage of votes in the European parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n The projection released by public broadcaster RAI puts Brothers of Italy as the most popular party with 28.5% of the vote, while the center-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) was second with 23.7%.<\/p>\n The other main opposition party, the 5-Star Movement, won 10.5%, while Forza Italia, founded by late premier Silvio Berlusconi, was fourth with 10%, followed by the far-right League at 8.3%.<\/p>\n BUDAPEST, Hungary \u2014 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s nationalist party appeared set to take the most votes in Sunday\u2019s European Parliament elections, a race that pitted the long-serving leader against a new challenger that has upended Orb\u00e1n\u2019s grip on Hungarian politics in recent months.<\/p>\n With 55% of votes counted, Orb\u00e1n\u2019s Fidesz party stood at 43% of the vote, enough to send 11 delegates of Hungary\u2019s 21 total seats in the European Union\u2019s legislature.<\/p>\n While Fidesz took a plurality of votes, it was down nearly 10 percentage points from its support in 2019 EU elections and looked set to lose two seats in what was widely seen as a referendum on Orb\u00e1n\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n While Fidesz has dominated Hungarian politics since 2010, many are deeply dissatisfied with how it has governed the country. A deep economic crisis and a recent series of scandals involving Fidesz politicians have rocked the party, which prides itself on upholding family values and Christian conservatism.<\/p>\n MADRID \u2014 Spain\u2019s leading opposition conservatives pulled ahead of the governing Socialists in the European Union\u2019s parliamentary elections, with the far-right making significant gains amid the surprise appearance of a new extremist party led by a social media influencer.<\/p>\n With 99% of votes counted, the right-wing opposition Popular Party (PP) had 34% of the votes, four percentage points more than the center-left Socialists of Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez. That translated into 22 seats for the conservatives, nine more than in the previous European election, and 20 for the Socialists.<\/p>\n Spain has the fourth largest number of parliamentary seats allocated in the EU\u2019s assembly: 61 out of 720.<\/p>\n The results were a significant improvement for the PP conservatives, who had likened the European vote to a referendum on S\u00e1nchez\u2019s administration. But the biggest gains were on the far-right of the political spectrum.<\/p>\n PRAGUE \u2014 The centrist opposition ANO (YES) movement led by former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis has won the European Parliament election in the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n Euroskeptic Babis defeated the center-right Together coalition that consists of three partners in the Czech governing coalition: the conservative Civic Democratic Party of Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Christian Democrats and the liberal-conservative TOP 09 party.<\/p>\n ANO won 26% of the votes, for seven seats, while Together claimed 22%, for six seats.<\/p>\n THE HAGUE, Netherlands \u2014 Near complete Dutch results confirmed Sunday night that Geert Wilders\u2019 far-right, anti-immigration Party for Freedom was the biggest winner in elections for the European Union parliament.<\/p>\n Wilders\u2019 party won six seats, up from one in the last European parliament, according to a near complete count of the Dutch vote, national broadcaster NOS reported. That is one seat less than projected by an exit poll after the Dutch voted Thursday.<\/p>\n That one seat difference did not dampen Wilders\u2019 delight. \u201cStill the very biggest winner with five more seats!\u201d he wrote on social media platform X.<\/p>\n BRATISLAVA, Slovakia \u2014 The major opposition Progressive Slovakia has claimed victory in the European Parliament elections in Slovakia, topping the leftist Smer (Direction) party of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.<\/p>\n The vote took place just weeks after Fico survived an assassination attempt.<\/p>\n Progressive Slovakia, a liberal and pro-Western group, won 27.8% of the vote, for six parliamentary seats.<\/p>\n Smer, which refuses to send any arms to Ukraine to face Russia\u2019s invasion and is critical of mainstream European policies, followed with 24.8%, for five seats.<\/p>\n Marine Le Pen, of France\u2019s far-right National Rally party, says she is \u201cready to turn the country around\u201d after dealing a heavy blow to French President Emmanuel Macron in the EU parliamentary election. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re ready for it. After the legislative elections of 2022, which designated the National Rally Party as the main parliamentary opponent, these European elections confirm our movement as the major force for change in France,\u201d she told party supporters in Paris. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are ready to exercise power if the French people place their trust in us in these future legislative elections. We\u2019re ready to turn the country around, ready to defend the interests of the French, ready to put an end to mass immigration, ready to make the purchasing power of the French a priority,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n ATHENS, Greece \u2014 Near complete results in Greece show the governing center-right New Democracy party comfortably ahead in the EU Parliamentary election with just under 28% of the vote, but with a poorer showing than the 33% it won in the previous election which the party leadership had set as a bar for Sunday\u2019s poll.<\/p>\n Results from 95% of polling precincts showed that the left-wing main opposition SYRIZA also lost ground, polling just below 15%, down from nearly 24% in 2019. Socialist PASOK scored just under 13%, up from nearly 8%. Hard-right populist Greek Solution, which also saw a rise in its popularity to 9.5% from 4%, is the largest of three far-right parties to send representatives to the European Parliament, alongside the ultra-religious Niki with 4% and Voice of Reason with 3%.<\/p>\n NICOSIA, Cyprus \u2014 The state broadcaster of Cyprus says near-complete results show the far-right ELAM party has managed to clinch one of six seats allotted to the country in the European Parliament.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the first time that the far-right party, founded in 2008, has earned a seat in the European Parliament. ELAM\u2019s strident polemics against large numbers of migrants who have reached Cyprus in recent years has increasingly resonated with voters and have given the party a steady rise in support.<\/p>\n With almost 85% of the vote counted, ELAM has garnered just over 11%, the state broadcaster said.<\/p>\n NICOSIA, Cyprus \u2014 A popular YouTuber and TikToker whose humorous and occasionally obnoxious posts have earned him tens of thousands of followers has stunned Cyprus\u2019 political world by appearing to wrest one of six seats allotted to the island nation in the European Parliament from traditional political powerhouses.<\/p>\n With more than three quarters of votes counted, unofficial results show Fidias Panayiotou clinching almost 20% of votes, about 2 percentage points behind the communist-rooted AKEL party in second and 4 percentage points behind the center-right Democratic Rally Party.<\/p>\n Opinion polls consistently showed Panayiotou garnering high numbers, but no one expected him to perform so well solely through his social media fame after a mere two-month campaign in which he essentially offered no political positions.<\/p>\n In his first remarks after polls closed and initial results showed him steadily in third place, Fidias, who goes only by his first name, said a \u201cmiracle\u201d had been achieved, conceding that he himself didn\u2019t believe he would pull in such numbers. <\/p>\n \u201cThis could be the first time that a completely independent candidate who doesn\u2019t have even an inkling of support from a political party, has managed to get elected, with social media being his only weapon,\u201d Fidias said.<\/p>\n PARIS \u2013 French President Emmanuel Macron says he is dissolving the National Assembly and calling a snap legislative election after his party suffered a heavy defeat in elections for the European Parliament.<\/p>\n In an address to the nation from the Elysee presidential palace, Macron said: \u201cI\u2019ve decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote. I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly.\u201d The vote will take place in two rounds on June 30 and July 7, he said.<\/p>\n The move comes as first projected results from France on Sunday put the far-right National Rally party well ahead in the European Union\u2019s parliamentary election, defeating Macron\u2019s pro-European centrists, according to French opinion poll institutes.<\/p>\n ZAGREB, Croatia \u2014 Exit polls in Croatia project the ruling conservatives to win the most votes in the EU election, followed by the main center-left opposition party. A newcomer far-right party also won a seat for the first time.<\/p>\n The Croatian Democratic Union of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic won 33.7% of the vote, or six seats, while the Social Democratic Party won 27.8%, or four seats, according to the exit poll conducted by the Ipsos polling agency and broadcast by the state HRT television.<\/p>\n The report said that far-right Homeland Movement won 8.6%, or one seat. The party is part of the coalition government in Croatia after emerging as kingmaker at a recent parliamentary election. The Liberal We Can group won 5.4%, which is also one seat.<\/p>\n See AP\u2019s coverage of global elections in 2024 here<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nFRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS SNAP ELECTION IS MACRON\u2019S \u2018BET ON CONFIDENCE\u2019 IN THE FRENCH PEOPLE<\/h2>\n
GREENS AND LEFT-WING PARTIES DO WELL IN NORDIC NATIONS<\/h2>\n
HEAD OF FRANCE\u2019S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEFENDS MACRON\u2019S DECISION TO DISSOLVE IT<\/h2>\n
AUSTRIA\u2019S FAR-RIGHT PARTY CELEBRATES FIRST WIN IN A NATIONWIDE VOTE<\/h2>\n
ANTI-IMMIGRANT PARTY ALIGNED WITH HUNGARY\u2019S ORBAN DOES WELL IN SLOVENIA<\/h2>\n
MAINSTREAM CONSERVATIVES WIN IN GERMANY, WITH SECOND-PLACE FINISH FOR FAR RIGHT<\/h2>\n
WIN FOR DONALD TUSK\u2019S CENTRIST PARTY IN POLAND AMID GROWTH OF FAR RIGHT<\/h2>\n
INITIAL PROJECTIONS INDICATE ITALIAN PREMIER GIORGIA MELONI\u2019S PARTY HAS WON THE MOST VOTES<\/h2>\n
HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER ORBAN\u2019S NATIONALIST PARTY APPEARS SET TO TAKE MOST VOTES<\/h2>\n
SPAIN\u2019S MAIN OPPOSITION CONSERVATIVES PULL AHEAD OF GOVERNING SOCIALISTS<\/h2>\n
EUROSKEPTIC CENTRIST OPPOSITION WINS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTION IN CZECH REPUBLIC<\/h2>\n
DUTCH RESULTS CONFIRM FAR-RIGHT, ANTI-IMMIGRATION PARTY FOR FREEDOM IS THE BIGGEST WINNER<\/h2>\n
OPPOSITION PARTY CLAIMS VICTORY IN SLOVAKIA<\/h2>\n
FRANCE\u2019S LE PEN: WE\u2019RE READY TO TURN THE COUNTRY AROUND<\/h2>\n
NEAR COMPLETE RESULTS IN GREECE SHOW GOVERNING CENTER-RIGHT PARTY IN COMFORTABLE WIN<\/h2>\n
FAR-RIGHT ELAM PARTY CLINCHES ONE OF SIX EU PARLIAMENT SEATS ALLOTTED TO CYPRUS<\/h2>\n
CYPRIOT INFLUENCER WITH NO POLITICAL EXPERIENCE APPEARS SET TO WIN EU PARLIAMENT SEAT<\/h2>\n
FRENCH PRESIDENT MACRON CALLS SNAP LEGISLATIVE ELECTION AFTER DEFEAT IN EU VOTE<\/h2>\n
CROATIA EXIT POLLS PROJECT GOVERNING CONSERVATIVES TO WIN THE MOST VOTES<\/h2>\n
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