(Brussels) Millions of Europeans are voting on Sunday in around twenty countries to elect a new European Parliament, where the political balance could be modified by the announced surge of the far right, particularly in Italy and France.
Greece, where a heat wave is expected, kicked off, followed by most other European Union countries, including Germany, France and Spain.
The current right/socialist/liberal “grand coalition”, which forges compromises in the European hemicycle, should, according to polls, retain the majority there, but it could see its room for maneuver reduced, forcing it to find strength of support and auguring intense negotiations in the weeks to come.
“Social problems – housing, education or climate – must be solved […] and I hope they will be solved in a European way,” explains Ingeborg Ronesch, a 65-year-old Austrian retiree, to the outlet from a polling station in Vienna.
Nearly two and a half years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 360 million Europeans are called to the polls to nominate 720 members of the European Parliament.
The Netherlands launched the vote on Thursday by confirming, according to estimates, a surge by Geert Wilders’ far-right party, even if it has to settle for second place behind the social-democrat and environmentalist coalition.
The President of the European Commission, the German Ursula von der Leyen, who is seeking a second five-year term, voted mid-morning in Burgdorf, Lower Saxony, in the company of her husband.
“I hope that a pro-peace majority will emerge from these elections,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after voting in Budapest. Always very critical of Brussels, the nationalist leader is also increasing attacks against NATO, accusing it of dragging the Alliance countries into a “global conflagration”.
Ferenc Hamori, 54, a physical education teacher who voted in a village near Budapest, said the EU would be better off if it had more leaders like Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. “He will win the elections here, but he will always be in the minority in Brussels,” he regrets.
In countries neighboring Russia at war with Ukraine, security concerns some voters.
“I would like security to be strengthened […] or even the deployment of a European contingent on our territory,” says Andrzej Zmiejewski, a 51-year-old doctor, after voting in Warsaw.
The mobilization of the electorate is one of the major challenges of the election.
The latest polls put the National Rally, led by Jordan Bardella, in the lead with over 30% of the vote, far ahead of Renaissance, the party of the French president, and then the social-democratic left led by Raphaël Glucksmann.
In Germany, the far right, united behind the AfD, is also in ambush, despite the latest scandals which have hit it. His head of the list, suspected of benefiting from Russian and Chinese financing, was excluded from the group to which he belonged in the European Parliament.
If the German conservatives of the CDU-CSU should come well ahead, with 30.5% of the votes, according to a poll, the party of social democratic chancellor Olaf Scholz, the SPD, should experience a bitter failure. The SPD and the Greens are battling for second place with the AfD, which is capitalizing on a gloomy economic situation and fears linked to immigration.
Most analysts expect a decline among environmentalists in most countries, particularly in France where they run the risk of not crossing the 5% threshold, essential to send at least one MP to Strasbourg.
In Denmark, the vote takes place the day after the attack suffered by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, after the knife attack suffered by her Slovak counterpart, the populist Robert Fico.
“I think the general trend in many countries is that we are becoming more and more divided and willing to speak louder than the other side, and perhaps we are even more violent in defending our beliefs or our political opinions,” said Jane Sørensen, 42, a Danish teacher, interviewed on Saturday.
This election “will determine the next five years,” assured Ms. Meloni on Saturday, who reaffirmed her desire to “defend the borders against illegal immigration, protect the real economy, fight against unfair competition.”
The first task of MEPs will be to confirm – or refute – the choices of the leaders of the member countries for the presidency of the Commission.
If the 27, who meet at a summit in Brussels at the end of June, opt for a reappointment of Ursula von der Leyen, the Parliament vote, which should, barring any surprises, take place during a plenary session in Strasbourg in mid-July, will be carefully scrutinized.
In 2019, when she was appointed to this position to everyone’s surprise, Parliament only gave her its confidence by a very narrow majority (nine votes).
