Voters across the European Union have been voting on the final day of European parliamentary elections to choose their representatives for the next five-year term.
Polls opened in 20 EU countries early Sunday for the June 6-9 elections for a new European Parliament, the legislative branch of the 27-member bloc.
Millions of Europeans have been casting their ballots this week in one of the world’s biggest democratic elections. Far-right parties are looking to gain more power amid a rise in the cost of living and farmers’ discontent, while the wars in Gaza and Ukraine are also key topics weighing on the minds of voters.
The economy, jobs, poverty and social exclusion, public health, climate change and the future of Europe are also prominent issues.
Official results are not expected before the last polling stations in all 27 EU nations close late Sunday.
Currently:
— An assault on the Danish prime minister is the latest in a recent surge in political violence in Europe
— Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tells the EU’s traditional center parties their time is up
— What’s at stake: AP’s explainer on how it works and the main issues
— Overwhelmed by the elections? A guide to the key races to watch
Here’s the latest:
EXIT POLLS INDICATE PARTY OF BULGARIA’S PRIME MINISTER IS THE LIKELY WINNER
SOFIA, Bulgaria — Exit polls in Bulgaria indicate the GERB center-right party of three-time Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is the likely winner of the country’s parliamentary vote as well as the election for European Parliament.
The exit poll conducted by Gallup International showed the GERB party with 26%, apparently edging out the reformist coalition between the We Continue the Change party and the right-wing Democratic Bulgaria by a margin of over 10 percentage points in both votes.
Projections show a record-low voter turnout. Initial results are expected on Monday, but it could take days before the final official results are announced.
If final results confirm indications from the exit poll, Borissov will be handed a mandate to form his fourth cabinet, though he could face an uphill task in finding allies to form a governing coalition in a fragmented parliament.
The ultra-nationalist Vazrazhdane party, a strong opposition to any actions against Putin’s Russia, is seen as widening its parliamentary presence at home to 15% and for the first time is also expected to send at least three representatives to the European Parliament.
MAINSTREAM, PRO-EU PARTIES EXPECTED TO HOLD MAJORITY DESPITE GAINS BY FAR RIGHT
BRUSSELS — First national estimates from five European Union countries provided by the European Parliament suggest mainstream and pro-European parties should retain their majority in next legislature despite gains by the far-right.
The estimates aggregated by the EU parliament were based on exit polls or other survey data. They came from Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands.
The Socialists, Liberals, Greens and Conservatives put on a strong showing even though they are expected to lose seats to far-right parties like those led by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Marine Le Pen in France.
VON DER LEYEN CONGRATULATES HER GERMAN PARTY AFTER EXIT POLLS SHOWS IT DID WELL
BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen has congratulated her German party, the Christian Democratic Union, on its result in the election after exit polls showed that it was the biggest vote-getter.
“You know that we in Europe still have to wait several hours, but what you have already set as a trend is all the better – strongest force, stable, in difficult times and by a distance,” she told supporters by video link from Brussels.
“Now we have to replicate this in Europe, but I am confident that we will succeed this evening,” she said.
EXIT POLLS POINT TO GAINS FOR GERMANY’S FAR RIGHT
Exit polls pointed to very weak results for Germany’s governing parties and gains for the far-right Alternative for Germany in Sunday’s vote for the European Parliament, while the mainstream conservative opposition was set to remain the country’s strongest political force in the legislature.
The polls for ARD and ZDF public television showed support for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats at 14%, below the 15.8% they managed in 2019 and far below their showing in Germany’s last national election in 2021.
The environmentalist Greens, the second-biggest party in Scholz’s coalition, fell from a successful 20.5% five years ago to around 12%, according to the exit polls. Support for the pro-business Free Democrats, the third party in the quarrelsome and unpopular government, was seen at 5%.
The exit polls gave a clear lead to the center-right Union bloc, now the main opposition force, putting its support at around 30%. That’s in line with its 2019 result and better than its showing in the last national election.
Alternative for Germany, or AfD, was seen winning up to 16.5% of the vote. That’s better than 11% in 2019 but still some way short of its poll ratings several months ago. The party has seen a string of setbacks this year, including scandals surrounding its two lead candidates for the European Parliament.
BELGIUM LOOKING INTO REPORTS OF IRREGULARITIES BY TEEN VOTERS
BRUSSELS — Some underage voters in Belgium who were only allowed to cast their ballot in the European elections might have also voted in regional and federal elections they were not entitled to take part in, according to the country’s interior minister.
Belgian voters were electing a new federal parliament but also regional parliaments and members of the European Parliament. Teenagers aged 16 and 17 were allowed to vote in the European elections, but Belgian citizens must be at least 18 to vote in the other elections.
Following reports in local media Sunday that people under 18 voted in all three elections, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told regional broadcaster VRT that “the errors appeared to have been limited” and that any complaints will be investigated.
“For the time being I presume that the impact has been limited. We will continue with these elections,” she said.
A ‘WIDESPREAD YAWN’ IN SPAIN, WHERE TURNOUT APPEARS LOW
MADRID — María Del Mar Mira, a civil servant and historian in the central Letras neighborhood of Madrid, expressed disappointment at not seeing the queues that normally form for national elections at her polling station in central Madrid. She believes voters don’t understand the importance of decisions taken in the European Parliament.
“We should take this more seriously, because there are a lot of important things coming from there and the truth is it that we are taking a direction that reminds me of past and undesirable times,” Mira said.
Some 38 million Spaniards are eligible to vote Sunday to elect 61 members of the 720-seat European Parliament, with the conservative opposition and the ruling Socialists expected to get the most seats.
Antonio García Escolar, a producer and screenwriter from Madrid, also remarked on low interest in the vote, something he blamed on misinformation. “We have fallen into a widespread yawn,” he said. “We are asleep, because we prefer reading a headline or what a YouTuber tells us and we don’t seek truthful information.”
García Escolar did not disclose who he voted for but said his vote was “against fascism.”
“Fascism is not something that one learns in school, it is something that is dormant and that is inside all of us, that only awakens when fear is stirred,” he said.
Ana Cabanas, a lawyer from Madrid, said the economy and the agricultural policies that are decided in Brussels were some of the main topics that drove her to vote.
“I still believe in Europe and I want to have a say in matters that affect Spanish legislation and that are decided in Europe,” Cabanas said.
FRENCH VOTERS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT MIGRATION AND WARS IN UKRAINE AND THE MIDDLE EAST
PARIS — Migration has been one of the most important issues to French voters, and the party of far-right leader Marine Le Pen is hoping for a strong showing against the centrist party of President Emmanuel Macron.
Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 28-year-old protege and the current president of the far-right National Rally, gave strong performances in debates ahead of this weekend’s election, something that could help Le Pen as she is expected to run for the French presidency in 2027.
Bardella has fiercely opposed the EU Asylum and Migration Pact, a plan backed by Macron that seeks to harmonize the management of irregular migrant arrivals among EU nations.
French voters are also focused on the war in Ukraine and Gaza.
“Today, in the context of a war in Ukraine and the Middle East, there’s a different dimension than the national one,” said Francois Tivolle, who cast his ballot in Paris’ 11th district.
GERMANY’S UNPOPULAR COALITION FACES ITS FIRST NATIONWIDE TEST SINCE TAKING OFFICE IN 2021
BERLIN — The European Parliament election gives political parties in Germany their first nationwide test since center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government took office at the end of 2021.
Pre-election surveys suggested that the mainstream conservative opposition, the Union bloc, can expect to remain Germany’s strongest force in the EU legislature. They predict weak results for the three parties in Scholz’s quarrelsome governing coalition, which has become very unpopular.
The far-right Alternative for Germany can expect gains compared with the 11% of the vote it won in 2019, but its performance may be hampered by a string of setbacks in recent months, including scandals surrounding its two lead candidates for the European Parliament.
Germany elects 96 of the 720 lawmakers who will make up Europe’s new Parliament, the biggest single share.
Voter Laura Simon said in Berlin: “I do hope that we will manage to avoid a shift to the right and that Europe will somehow remain united.”
HUNGARY’S PRIME MINISTER FACES FIRST ELECTORAL TEST SINCE NEW RIVAL APPEARS
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Many Hungarian view the election as a referendum on the popularity of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose illiberal policies and his support for Russia have pushed him to the margins of the European Union.
While Fidesz has dominated Hungarian politics since 2010, many Hungarians are deeply dissatisfied with the direction the country is going, and hope to deal a blow to Orbán by supporting one of the most formidable challengers he’s ever faced.
Péter Magyar, a 43-year-old lawyer and former insider within Orbán’s party, has built up Hungary’s strongest opposition party in a matter of months and hopes to use a good showing in Sunday’s elections to propel himself and his movement toward defeating the prime minister in the next national ballot scheduled for 2026.
Orbán’s governing Fidesz party is expected to win the largest share of the vote after campaigning heavily on fears that the war in neighboring Ukraine could escalate to involve Hungary directly.
Hungary is set to take over the EU’s rotating six-month presidency next month.
POLAND VOTES WITH WAR IN UKRAINE AND MIGRATION ISSUES IN FOCUS
WARSAW, Poland — Poles are voting at a time of great insecurity for the nation, which is located along the eastern flank of both the European Union and NATO.
The war just across the border in Ukraine has created fears that if Russia were to prevail, Poland and neighboring nations that were once under Moscow’s control could be targeted next.
A migration crisis is also playing out along another stretch of the eastern border with Belarus. Poland accuses Belarus and Russia of luring large numbers of migrants to the border to create instability. The crisis has been deadly, with a migrant recently stabbing to death a Polish soldier. Dozens of migrants, if not more, have also died in the swampy forest area since 2021.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has stressed national security, promising to strengthen border controls as he seeks a good showing for his centrist, pro-EU party.
On the minds of some Poles is the nature of the EU itself. In a nation under foreign rule for long spans in the past, some Poles fear that the 27-member bloc is taking away too much power from individual nations.
“We know that the European Union is in crisis, so maybe our elections will change something in the decision-making and efficiency of this body,” said Anna Grzegorczyk-Łuczak, a 60-year-old architect who voted early in Warsaw. She would not say which party she voted for.
BULGARIANS CAST BALLOTS FOR NEW PARLIAMENT AND IN EU ELECTIONS
SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarians are choosing a new parliament Sunday while also participating in European Union elections that have been overshadowed by domestic political instability and economic inequality as well as growing concern over the war in nearby Ukraine.
It was Bulgaria’s sixth parliamentary election in three years. There were worries that voter fatigue and wide disillusionment with politicians who do not fulfill promises to fight corruption and introduce reforms could result in a low turnout and another fragmented parliament.
Preliminary results are expected Monday in the voting for the 240 seats in the National Assembly and for 17 members in the European Parliament.
The front-runners in the National Assembly elections were seen as the GERB center-right party led by three-time Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the reformist coalition We Continue the Change–Democratic Bulgaria.
After running neck and neck in last July’s election, the two rival groups sought to break the political stalemate by forming an uneasy governing coalition, but it survived only nine months.
See AP’s coverage of global elections in 2024 here.
