The first results of the European Parliament elections have been announced

The first results of the European Parliament elections held between 6-9 June in the 27-member European Union have been announced, revealing significant gains for the far-right. The voting process continued until 23:00 local time on Sunday in Italy, marking the end of a four-day election process in Europe. According to the preliminary unofficial results, in the 720-member European Parliament, the European People’s Party (EPP) will be represented by 189 members, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) by 135, Renew Europe (Renew) by 80, the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR) by 72, Identity and Democracy Party (ID) by 58, Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) by 52, and the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) by 36 members. The number of independent members elected to the parliament based on initial results is 46, while 52 newly elected members who have not joined any parliamentary group yet. Ursula von der Leyen declared victory. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the European People’s Party (EPP) emerged as the winner of the elections. She thanked European voters for their trust and stated, “Today is a beautiful day for the European People’s Party. We have won the European elections.” Von der Leyen emphasized that while it is true that far-right and far-left parties have gained strength, the center parties have maintained their leadership positions, indicating that it is not possible to form a majority in the parliament without the European People’s Party. National Assembly dissolved in France. The overwhelming victory achieved by the far-right National Rally (RN) party in France led President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve the National Assembly and call for early elections. Accepting defeat in his statement on the results, Macron said, “I have received your message, I understand your concerns, and I will not leave them unanswered.” Following Macron’s announcement of early elections, far-right leader Le Pen stated that the movement is ready to take over the governance of France. Le Pen said, “We are ready to change the country, defend the interests of the French, and put an end to mass migration.” Far-right gains in Germany. Initial results in Germany, the country with the largest population in the 27-member union, revealed that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which received 11% of the vote in 2019, increased its vote share to 14.2%. According to the results, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) received 30.90% of the votes, while Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) received 14.6%. Prime Minister De Croo announced his resignation in Belgium. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo of Belgium announced his resignation following his party’s poor results in the European Parliament elections. De Croo stated, “I was the one leading this election campaign. This was not the outcome I had hoped for, and I take responsibility for this result. It should not have been like this.” Speaking to journalists, De Croo said, “I will resign from the prime ministership starting tomorrow.” European People’s Party announced it will prevent the far-right from being in power. Manfred Weber, the President of the European People’s Party (EPP), announced that they aim to prevent far-right parties from being part of the ruling coalition. Weber called on mainstream parties in Europe to join the European and democracy-friendly alliance of the European People’s Party, stating, “We created today’s Europe, and therefore anyone who wants to destroy Europe is our enemy. We will fight against them. We will not allow them to have any influence at the European level.” The voter turnout, estimated to be around 51%, was the highest since 1994. In the 2019 elections, this rate was measured at 50.66%.