ELECTORAL RESULTS OF RADICAL-RIGHT PARTIES IN THE ELECTIONS TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON JUNE 6–9, 2024

Abstract

The authers of the article have characterised. The results of the European Parliament Xth elections that took place on June 6-9, 2024. It is noted that these elections are characterized by the highest turnout in the entire history of elections to the European Parliament. Experts provide the following powerful incentives for participation in the elections: 1) the growing sense of fear and uncertainty before unpredictable crises (economic, migration, and climate); 2) the concern about the unfolding of a full-scale military conflict in Europe related to the russian-Ukrainian war; 3) the geopolitical changes affecting Europeans; 4) the growing influence of right-wing radical, Eurosceptic parties, some of which openly support V. Putin’s imperial policy (“Alternative for Germany”, Polish “Confederation Liberty and Independence”, Freedom Party of Austria); 5) the concerns for the preservation of the Eurozone (the single European space); 6) the specific national factors, etc. It is emphasized that 8 factions have been formed as a result of the European Parliament elections. If we consider the structure of the European Parliament according to the “left-right” scale, it looks as follows: The Left, The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), The Greens ‒ The European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA), Renew Europe (RE), European People’s Party (EPP), The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Patriots for Europe (PfE), Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN). Four of them are pro- European: 1) European People’s Party, 2) The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, 3) Renew Europe, 4) The Greens European Free Alliance (454 deputies). And four of them are the Eurosceptic ones: 1) European Conservatives and Reformists, 2) The Left, 3) Patriots for Europe, Europe of Sovereign Nations (233 deputies). It is emphasized that the European elections have somewhat changed the party landscape of the European Union. And in some countries the elections results are called a “political earthquake” (e.g., France, Belgium, Germany). Compared to the previous 2019 European Parliament election, European People’s Party, rightwing radical parties (Identity and Democracy, European Conservatives and Reformists) have improved their results, while European “greens” and liberal parties (united in a faction “Renew Europe”) have worsened their results. It is concluded that the mainstream right (EPP) and leftists (S&D) continue to be the largest European Parliament factions and the basis of the parliamentary majority, which indicates the unchanging course for the development of democracy and the protection of individual and collective freedoms in the European Union.