The continent's voters say they are fed up. The success of right-wing parties in the recent European Parliament elections has shocked the continent and countries around the world, indicating a potential bellwether for the upcoming U.S.
presidential election. Voters across the 27 member states that make up the European bloc voted between June 6 and 9, with the results keeping European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s center-right European People’s Party (EPP) Group in the majority with 189 of the 720 seats available, but seeing a significant shift from the left to right across the remaining groups. Here's what happened, along with the winners and losers of this surprising electoral result.
EUROPE'S VOTING AGENDA The results in Europe could indicate a continuing global shift to the right during one of the busiest election years on record: Over 50 countries had elections scheduled this year, even before France announced a snap election due to the European Parliament results, according to the Associated Press . With U.S.
politics so tightly poised ahead of the 2024 elections, analysts will look to the other global contests to get some sense as to universal voter sentiments — recalling that the historic and surprise Brexit vote preceded Donald Trump's own surprise victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 — particularly as similar issues appear to trouble both Europeans and Americans despite the Atlantic divide. The successive wins of Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom.