Political Earthquake: How the Far-Right Strengthened Its Positions in the European Parliament

The recent European parliamentary elections witnessed far-right parties achieving historic gains in major countries, raising questions about the reasons for their rise and its repercussions on the political orientations of the European Union.

The far-right parties came in first place in two of the most influential countries in the EU, France and Italy, and in second place in Germany, which has the largest number of seats in the European Parliament.

Although these parties achieved general progress in the elections, they declined in a number of countries, most notably the Nordic countries, while the center-right parties retained the largest number of seats in the European Parliament.

The European parliamentary elections are the second largest ballot in the world, after the Indian elections, as they attract more than 350 million European citizens to participate in choosing the 720 members who will represent them in the highest legislative body in the EU.

Political Rise

Far-right parties were able to make gains in the European parliamentary elections, which were held between June 6 and 9, dealing a strong blow to both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

According to Politico newspaper, center-right and far-right parties are expected to win the largest number of seats in the EU elections in the most populous countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland.

Macron's party suffered a bitter defeat to the far-right National Rally party, which prompted him to announce the dissolution of the National Assembly and call for snap parliamentary elections with two rounds on June 30 and July 7, while the German Chancellor's Party recorded its worst result ever against the Conservatives and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Preliminary election results indicated that the National Rally would win about 32% of the French votes, more than double what President Macron's party received.

The popularity of the far-right AfD party rose from 11% in 2019 to 14.2% of the German vote in this election.

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party took 25.7% of the vote, finishing in first place in a nationwide election for the first time.

Belgium also shifted to the right, as the right-wing New Flemish Alliance came in first place with 22%, and the far-right Vlaams Belang party in second place with 17.5%, which prompted the resignation of liberal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party also came in first place in the European elections in Italy, where it received 25% of the votes.

In Poland, the center-right Civic Alliance led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk won for the first time in 10 years over its traditional opponent, the far-right Law and Justice Party.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ far-right, anti-immigration Party for Freedom was the biggest winner in elections for the European Union parliament. Wilders’ party won six seats, up from one in the last European parliament.

In Spain, the right-wing opposition Popular Party (PP) came in first place in the elections, winning 22 seats in the European Parliament, ahead of the Socialist Party led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, which won 20 seats, while the far-right Vox Party won 6 European seats.

The Portuguese Socialists returned to the fore, defeating the ruling party by a small margin, while the far-right party Chega, which will enter the European Parliament for the first time, retreated.

The Fidesz party, led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, performed below expectations in Hungary, according to The Guardian.

Interim results showed that his ruling coalition came in first place with 43.7%, a result lower than the 50% that polls expected.

In Greece, the center-right party of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis won first place in the elections with more than 28% of the votes.

Bitter Defeat

While nationalist parties made significant progress in several countries in Europe, they were defeated in the Nordic countries and were swept away by the left, according to another report by Le Monde, which emerged as the biggest winner of the vote in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.

It is a result welcomed by the leader of the Swedish Left Party list, Jonas Sjostedt, and the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Magdalena Andersson, whose party won the elections.

Le Monde indicated that the defeat was particularly bitter for the far-right Sweden Democrats, which polls suggested would obtain between 18% and 20% of the votes, but in the last elections, party leader Jimmie Akesson received 13.2% of the votes.

In Finland, the Left Alliance party made progress by winning 17.3% of the votes, 4 points more than in 2019, while the far-right Finns Party came in sixth place with 7.6% of the votes, their worst result since their entry into the European Parliament in 2009.

In Denmark, where the political scene is very fragmented, the Socialist People's Party took the lead and achieved remarkable progress by obtaining 18.4% of the votes, while the far-right Danish People's Party continued its decline, obtaining only 6.4%.

According to the preliminary results of the elections, far-right parties will win a quarter of the 720 seats in the European Parliament.

If the far-right parties come together, they will theoretically represent the second largest bloc in the European Parliament after the center-right parties, according to Politico.

Complex Political Landscape

For decades, the EU has relegated the far right to the political margins. But with its strong showing in the recent European elections, its parties could become major players in policies ranging from immigration and security to climate.

The strong rise of these parties was mainly driven by the suffering of many voters from the cost-of-living crisis, along with concerns related to immigration and the cost of transitioning towards renewable energy, and a sense of discomfort with increasing geopolitical tensions, including the war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

According to The Economist, 15 of the 27 member states of the EU recently announced that far-right parties enjoy support of 20% or more in polls.

Far-right parties form part of national governments in 8 out of 27 member states of the EU. These far-right parties head governments in Hungary and Italy, while participating in ruling coalitions in the Netherlands, Finland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Croatia, and providing parliamentary support to the Swedish government.

In turn, political analyst Mohamed el-Owaid said in a statement to Al-Estiklal that “the expected shift of the European Parliament towards the right means that it may be less enthusiastic about policies aimed at addressing climate change, while it will be keen on measures aimed at reducing immigration to the EU.”

The analyst attributed this to what he considered the failure of the traditional parties and governments of major EU countries to resolve the outstanding internal crises, specifically social and economic issues.

Mr. el-Owaid concluded that “the complex political landscape in the EU will not become clear until the results of the French elections called for by Emmanuel Macron are known.”

“There is also a growing risk of divisions and chaos within the European Parliament and the Council, which threatens European unity and hampers the ability to achieve the necessary consequences under the current circumstances, such as the war in Ukraine and the possible re-election of Trump,” he added.