How Will Nationalists Push Their Agenda in Europe? | Inside Story

The far-right makes gains after the European Parliament elections but not the clean sweep some feared.

A record-number of voters across Europe have dealt a blow to traditional centrist politics, with far-right and far-left parties making significant gains in the European Parliament elections.

A surge in support for liberal and green parties means pro-EU politicians will maintain their majority in the 751-seat parliament. But far-right and nationalist wins in Italy, France, Britain and Poland gives Eurosceptic parties control of a quarter of the seats for the first time.

Far-right gains were less than expected and won't dramatically change the balance of power. But the EU parliament now finds itself more fragmented than ever. As pro-EU parties retain their majority, what do the results mean for nationalists in the divided parliament?

Presenter: Barbara Serra | Guests: Nina Schick - Author & Political Commentator; Tony Travers - Professor, School of Public Policy, London School of Economics; Thorsten Benner - Co-founder & Director, Global Public Policy Institute

European Elections: What It Means for the Future of Europe

Mark Stone assesses the fallout from the European elections and its consequences for the main parties?

George Osborne's Evening Standard Backs Lib Dems for EU Elections

THE GUARDIAN: Editorial in former chancellor’s paper is latest breakaway by Cameron-era Tories over Brexit

The Evening Standard, edited by the former Conservative chancellor George Osborne, has urged readers to consider voting Liberal Democrat in the European elections, in the latest sign of David Cameron-era Tories breaking with the party over Brexit.

The London newspaper said the Lib Dems had the “courage from the start to say the referendum result was a mistake” and as a result, “voters have started to think again about them”.

However, the Standard stopped short of a full endorsement for Vince Cable’s party, simply saying “we wish them well”.

Other prominent Conservatives have been punished by the party in recent days for endorsing the Lib Dems in the elections, including the former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine. It is not known whether Osborne remains a paid-up member of the Conservative party, but the carefully phrased endorsement means he is likely to escape being censured. » | Jim Waterson, Media editor | Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Will Europe's Populist Leaders Make a Breakthrough? | Inside Story

Mainstream politicians face a challenge from the far right as 400 million Europeans vote in this week's European Parliament elections. Elections for the European Parliament get underway on Thursday.

Immigration and the economy are dominating the political agenda, and the rise of the far-right is dominating the headlines.

On Saturday, right-wing leaders from nearly a dozen EU countries, including France, Germany and the Netherlands gathered for a rally in Milan to show their unity. The gathering was led by the Italian Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, who wants to form a far-right block within the EU Parliament.

Some analysts believe that the future identity of European politics––and the EU itself––is at stake. So, how will voting shape the continent?

Presenter: Barbara Serra | Guests: Theofanis Exadaktylos, senior lecturer in European politics at the University of Surrey; Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative and a former special adviser to the House of Lords EU committee; Stefano Vergine who is an Italian journalist focussing on economics and foreign affairs

Marine Le Pen Denies Steve Bannon Has Role in Her EU Election Campaign as He Sets Up Camp in Paris

THE TELEGRAPH: Steve Bannon was on Monday at the heart of a row over whether the ex-Trump strategist is playing an active role in French far-Right leader Marine Le Pen’s European election campaign.

The accusations came after the American president's controversial former eminence grise decamped to a palatial Parisian hotel days before the vote.

The elections for the European Parliament on May 26 in France will see President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party go head to head with Ms Le Pen’s National Rally, or RN, formerly known as the National Front.

Polls suggest that they are neck and neck with Mr Macron, Europe’s self-styled centrist champion, warning it would be a “catastrophe for France” should she finish ahead on Sunday. She has called for him to resign should he fail to do so.

Mr Bannon told Le Parisien this weekend he had opted to come to France as its election was "by far" the most important among EU member states. He predicted an “earthquake” next Sunday. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, May 20, 2019

Europe's Centrists Draw on Austrian Scandal to Issue Far-right Warning

THE GUARDIAN: Mainstream parties hope voters will shun populists in wake of ‘politicians for sale’ revelation

Politicians from mainstream parties across Europe have called on voters to shun the far right in this week’s European elections after Austria’s vice-chancellor resigned over a video sting that showed him offering public contracts in exchange for financial and campaign backing.

Heinz-Christian Strache stepped down on Saturday after the footage emerged. Hours later, Austria’s chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, announced snap elections, ending the 18-month ruling coalition between his centre-right Austrian People’s party (ÖVP) and Strache’s far-right Freedom party (FPÖ).

The video showed the vice-chancellor proposing to trade government contracts for party donations and favourable media coverage with a woman posing as the wealthy niece of a Russian energy billionaire. He acknowledged the video was “catastrophic” but denied doing anything illegal. » | Jon Henley, Europe correspondent | Monday, May 20, 2019

Europe’s Far-right Leaders Unite with a Vow to ‘Change History’

THE GUARDIAN: Matteo Salvini and Marine Le Pen are joining with allies to create what may be the third-largest bloc in the European parliament

Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini led a rally of his European far-right allies in front of Milan’s Gothic cathedral on Saturday. He pledged to change history after this week’s EU elections by making the populist alliance one of the largest groupings in the European parliament.

Flanked by France’s Marine Le Pen and leaders from nine other nationalist parties, Salvini began his speech to the packed Piazza del Duomo by quoting the British writer GK Chesterton: “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him but because he loves what is behind him.” He added that his group would remould Europe “not for our sake, but for our children”. » | Angela Giuffrida | Saturday, May 18, 2019

There’s So Much At Stake in the EU Elections. This Is about What Kind of Country We Want to Be

THE GUARDIAN: The vote will not just decide who represents us in the European parliament but the future we envision for our children

We are in the middle of a battle for Britain’s soul. On one side are those who want our country to continue to be forward looking, open to the world, tolerant, inclusive and progressive. On the other, those who want to pit our communities against each other, undo the social progress painstakingly made over decades, and who advocate a politics of division.

Across the globe, the far right is on the rise. They are gaining ground and winning power and influence in places that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

Many are using the same methods from the old far-right playbook. Picking on minority communities and the marginalised in order to manufacture an enemy. Fabricating lies in order to stoke up fear. And promoting hatred of immigrants, sympathy for white nationalism, attacks on women’s reproductive rights and rolling back the progress made on LGBT rights.

Take Donald Trump who, as US president, said there were “very fine people on all sides” when white supremacists marched through the streets of Charlottesville. Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister, has embraced antisemitism and attacked LGBT rights and press freedom. Matteo Salvini, deputy prime minister of Italy, has repeatedly attacked migrants. And Marine Le Pen finished second in the last French presidential election on an anti-immigration platform. Worryingly, similar nationalist and populist parties are gaining support in almost every European country. » | Sadiq Khan | Saturday, May 18, 2019

Labour Panic as Remain Voters Switch to Liberal Democrats

THE GUARDIAN: Polls makes Vince Cable’s party the favourite for Remainers and puts it in first place in London

Senior Labour figures were engaged in a desperate battle to shore up the party’s support on Saturday night, amid warnings that its stance on Brexitwas helping to “detoxify the Lib Dems”.

With just days left before the European elections at which Nigel Farage’s Brexit party is expected to triumph, shadow cabinet ministers are among those concerned that Labour’s ambiguous position on Brexit has helped revive the Lib Dems. It comes as new polling seen by the Observer suggests Vince Cable’s party is running in first place in London and could even beat Labour overall.

One senior party figure warned: “If the consequence of Labour’s Brexit position and this European election is to essentially detoxify the Lib Dems, then that’s a real problem.” Clive Lewis, a shadow Treasury minister, said “lifelong Labour voters” would not back the party this week due to its Brexit stance. He added: “It feels like we’ve given [the Lib Dems] the political equivalent of resuscitation.” » | Michael Savage, Observer policy editor | Saturday, May 18, 2019

European Elections: Can Social Democracy Survive? – BBC Newsnight

Farage Cannot Be Allowed to Dictate Britain’s Future. He Must Be Thwarted

THE GUARDIAN: The EU election results will send a vital message to MPs about Brexit

If you care about what the Brexiters are doing to our country, then vote on 23 May. All that matters is that on 24 May, Nigel Farage and his allies on the far right of the Conservative party cannot claim they speak for Britain.

Politics is not an exact science. After the vote, there will be a ledger. On one side will be hard or no-deal Brexit with Farage and the Tory fellow travellers. On the other will be those who want an end to Brexit and those who believe that, after this degree of mess and on a decision of this magnitude, the final say should be with the people.

The most important thing to remember is that with the knowledge of these election results parliament will take its decision. MPs will scrutinise the ledger as if their future depends on it.

So, the big message: vote. Because your vote will affect their vote. » | Tony Blair | Saturday, May 11, 2019

Poll Surge for Farage Sparks Panic among Tories and Labour

THE GUARDIAN: Support for the Conservatives at the European elections slumps to 11%, less than a third of what the Brexit party is polling

Senior Tory and Labour politicians have issued frantic calls to their voters to back them in next week’s European elections after a new poll showed support for Nigel Farage’s Brexit party had soared to a level higher than for the two main parties put together.

The Opinium survey for the Observer places the Brexit party on 34%, when people were asked how they intended to vote on 23 May, with Labour slipping to 21% and the Conservatives collapsing to just 11%. Ominously for Theresa May, support for the Tories at the European elections is now less than a third of that for Farage’s party, and below that for the Liberal Democrats, who are on 12%.

The poll suggests the Brexit party, launched only last month, is now on course for a thumping victory that Farage will, MPs fear, use to back his argument that the UK must leave the EU immediately without a deal. » | Toby Helm and Michael Savage | Saturday, May 11, 2019

Inside Story: Anti-Europe Protest Vote?

The far right and hard left make significant gains in European Parliament elections.

A Real National Front: The French Far Right Aims High

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: After its triumph in European elections on Sunday, the French far-right Front National is hoping to increase its power back home, with Marine Le Pen aiming for the presidency in 2017. With François Hollande's popularity plummeting, it is not out of the question.

Marine Le Pen shed tears of joy after her triumph in European Parliament elections on Sunday. When she arrived after midnight at a Parisian night club for the victory celebration with her fellow party members, the head of the far-right Front National (FN) embraced fans and family before letting the champagne flow. Marine's father Jean-Marie, who was re-elected to the EU body for the seventh time, was also on hand to congratulate his daughter. "It was a historic victory," he said.

By Monday morning, the emotional evening had already been forgotten and strategists were once again busy at work at the party's headquarters in Nanterre. Until Sunday's election, the Front National had occupied but three seats in European Parliament -- one each for Marine, her father and his political companion Bruno Gollnisch -- and had led a largely unnoticed existence on the political fringes in Brussels. Now, though, the party's caucus will grow by 21 representatives.

After pulling in a triumphant 25 percent of the vote, the Front National will now have the largest number of seats of any French political party in the European Parliament. Marine Le Pen has every intention of using the party's presence at parliament's headquarters in Strasbourg and Brussels for political gain. Some within the far-right in France are already considering their political futures -- all the way up to the presidential palace in Paris. » | Stefan Simons in Paris | Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Triumph für Marine Le Pen: Frankreich im Schockzustand » | Von Stefan Simons, Paris | Montag, 26. Mai 2014

European Elections 2014: Nick Clegg Faces Fight for Survival after Lib Dems' Euro Disaster

THE INDEPENDENT: Local Liberal Democrat party activists begin calling emergency meetings to force leadership contest as triumphant Nigel Farage predicts Ukip will hold balance of power at next year’s general election

Nick Clegg failed to quell a grassroots revolt by Liberal Democrat activists on Monday night as they stepped up an attempt to oust him following the party’s disastrous performance in the European elections.

After the Deputy Prime Minister refused to fall on his sword, The Independent learnt that activists had begun to call emergency meetings of local parties across the country in order to force a leadership election. They require the backing of 75 parties to trigger a contest.

The other way to open a battle over who should head the party is for a majority of the Lib Dems’ 56 MPs to support such a move. For now, most MPs are remaining publicly loyal to Mr Clegg or keeping their heads down, but some may call on him to quit in the next few days. » | Andrew Grace, Nigel Morris | Monday, May 26, 2014

French Political Class In Turmoil After Front National's European 'Earthquake' Victory

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The far-Right party has taken a quarter of the popular vote, beating both president Hollande's Socialists and the centre-Right UMP

France’s political establishment was in total disarray on Monday as its main parties reeled from the “earthquake” of seeing the far-Right Front National (FN) come first in European elections.

François Hollande, the deeply unpopular president, staged a crisis cabinet meeting to find ways to parry what is the French Socialist Party’s worst score since European elections were first held in 1979.

Sunday’s election saw the FN clinch almost 25 per cent of the vote, quadrupling its 2009 score in what its leader Marine Le Pen said translated a “massive rejection of the European Union”.

“We are witnessing the total rejection of the system,” she told Le Monde on Monday. “This is a kind of patriotic revolution” pitting the FN against the two main political parties, the Socialists and the opposition centre-Right UMP.

“The split is now between ‘nationals and globalists’,” she claimed. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, May 26, 2014

Nick Clegg: Election Losses Are 'Gutting and Heartbreaking'

In an emotional interview in which he appeared tired and red-eyed, deputy prime minister says he will not resign despite elections drubbing

Read and comment on the Telegraph article here | Georgia Graham | Monday, May 26, 2014

Far-right Parties Sweep into Power across Europe

DAILY EXPRESS: The far Right made sweeping gains across Europe last night as swathes of voters rejected ruling Left-wing parties.

France’s National Front became the country’s biggest party for the first time with more than 25 per cent of the vote, trouncing President Hollande’s Socialists.

Leader Marine Le Pen told a crowd of cheering supporters: “Tonight is a massive rejection of the European Union. What is happening in France signals what will happen in all European countries – the return of the nation.” » | Monday, May 26, 2014

France: Front National Sweeps to Victory

French politics in turmoil following the shock

Read the Daily Mail article here

Front National Wins European Parliament Elections in France

THE GUARDIAN: Elections return record number of MEPs opposed to EU project, with far right winning in France, Denmark and Austria

European politics were jolted as seldom before on Sunday when France's extreme nationalists triumphed in the European parliament elections, which across the continent returned an unprecedented number of MEPs hostile or sceptical about the European Union in a huge vote of no confidence in Europe's political elite.

France's Front National won the election there with a projected 25% of the vote, while the governing socialists of President François Hollande collapsed to 14%, according to exit polls.

In Britain the Nigel Farage-led insurrection against Westminster was also expected by all three main parties to deliver a victory for Ukip in the election, albeit with a lower lead than some opinion polls had been predicting in recent weeks. Turnout in Britain was 36%, higher than at the last European elections in 2009. » | Ian Traynor in Brussels | Sunday, May 25, 2014