Brussels: The four-day election at the European Union has shown an unprecedented dominance of far-right parties over ruling parties in France and Germany, the bloc’s traditional driving parties. The single biggest loser of the elections was French President Emmanuel Macron, who was forced to call for snap national elections after a drubbing from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party.
In the election, citizens of European Union countries elect their representatives as Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The European Parliament is a transnational assembly that represents the interests of EU citizens at the European level. A total of 720 Members of this parliament decide on laws and policies that affect all 27 countries of this bloc, from economy to climate change.
Apart from Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats also suffered as the extreme-right Alternative for Germany shrugged off scandals to make massive gains in the EU elections. On the other hand, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy displayed a strong performance with 28 per cent of the votes, boosting her leadership at home and consolidating her kingmaker role in Europe.