Far-right nationalists could make gains and undermine the E.U.
From left, politicians Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, Matteo Salvini of Italy, Jörg Meuthen of Germany, Marine Le Pen of France, Vaselin Marehki of Bulgaria, Jaak Madison of Estonia and Tomio Okamura of the Czech Republic attend a rally in Milan on May 18.
Although far-right and other parties that are hostile toward the E.U. have been on the ballot for decades, they have never wielded so much influence or appeared poised to control such a substantial share of the 751 seats. “The most important question in the European election is not right versus left — the old, traditional ideological cleavage,” said Peter Kreko, executive director of the Budapest-based Political Capital Institute. “It’s much more important what the mainstream-versus-extreme ratio looks like.”
Nationalist and other far-right parties, meanwhile, are expected to rise from about one-fifth of the seats to a quarter. Others, including pro-business and environmentalist parties, are also expected to gain. “Even with a relatively small percentage of the vote, the potential to delegitimize the European Parliament is quite strong,” said Almut Möller, co-head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Brussels is used to operating according to the Brussels consensus. Now the picture will be different.”
Also stalling the far right’s march are signs that, at least in some places, its moment may be passing.
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