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Eurosceptic
and far-right parties have seized ground in elections to the European
parliament, in what France's PM called a "political earthquake".
Eurosceptic 'earthquake' rocks EU elections
2 hours ago
Eurosceptic
and far-right parties have seized ground in elections to the European
parliament, in what France's PM called a "political earthquake".
Most watched
end quote from:
Eurosceptic 'earthquake' rocks EU elections
There will be tendency for the rightest shift to create stronger armies and tend towards more of a "Police State" to fend off Moscow from taking over their countries city by city like has happened in Syria, Ukraine and now Moldova.
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Eurosceptic 'earthquake' rocks EU elections
Anti-immigration parties hostile to the EU have done well
Eurosceptic
and far-right parties have seized ground in elections to the European
parliament, in what France's PM called a "political earthquake".
UK Independence Party and French National Front both
performed strongly. The three big centrist blocs all lost seats, though
still hold the majority.The outcome means a greater say for those who want to cut back the EU's powers, or abolish it completely.
UK PM David Cameron said the public was "disillusioned" with the EU.
Mr Cameron said their message was "received and understood".
Chancellor Angela Merkel - whose party topped the poll in Germany - described the far right victories as "remarkable and regrettable" and said the best response was to boost economic growth and jobs.
Jose Manuel Barroso, outgoing president of the European Commission, stressed that the pro-EU blocs still had "a very solid and workable majority".
He said a "truly democratic debate" was needed to address the concerns of those who did not vote, or "voted in protest".
- Italy In final results, centre-left PM Matteo Renzi (above) scores strong 40%, fending off ex-comic Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment Five Star with 21%, and ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia with 17%
- France National Front storm to victory - 25%, 24 seats; Centre-right UMP 21%; President Hollande's Socialists a poor third with 14% - lowest ever EP score
- Britain Eurosceptic UKIP in first place, with 27%, Conservatives on 24% and Labour about 25%, Greens beating Lib Dems
- Germany Angela Merkel wins another election - 35% for her Christian Union, 27% for the centre-left SPD. Eurosceptic AfD score strong 7%
- Greece Partial results show far-left Syriza on 26%, PM Antonis Samaras' New Democracy on 23%. Far-right Golden Dawn set to get three MEPs, with 9%. Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has asked the Greek president to call early national elections.
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The revolt had been a long time brewing and the battle lines are drawn”
That would be the first time turnout had not fallen since the previous election - but would only be an improvement of 0.1%.
"The people have spoken loud and clear," a triumphant Marine
Le Pen told cheering supporters at National Front (FN) party
headquarters in Paris."They no longer want to be led by those outside our borders, by EU commissioners and technocrats who are unelected. They want to be protected from globalisation and take back the reins of their destiny."
Provisional results suggested the FN could win 25 European Parliament seats - a stunning increase on its three in 2009.
The main centre-right and left groupings still hold the majority of seats between them. Add in the Liberals and the Greens and parliament is overwhelmingly pro-EU. In that sense if the main groups in the parliament choose to ignore those who didn't vote for them last night, they can. National politicians however, can't afford to ignore them. That's where this election is likely to really shake things up.
This will have an impact not just on domestic politics, but on the national leaders when they meet in Brussels at the European Council - where their job is to shape the direction of the EU.
Protest parties will force EU rethink
The BBC's Jeremy Vine uses graphics to show how EU citizens voted
EPP leader Jean-Claude Juncker insisted the majority of people had voted to be a part of Europe.
"The extreme right, contrary to what some of the media has said, did not win this election," he said.
"We will have a clear pro-European majority in this house," added the man who is the frontrunner to be the next president of the European Commission.
The Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group appeared to have around 38 seats, including the 24 confirmed seats for the UK Independence Party (UKIP).
Nigel Farage: "The people's army of UKIP have spoken tonight"
UKIP leader Nigel Farage, commenting on his party's success in Britain, said: "The inevitability of European integration ends tonight."
The anti-bailout hard-left group in parliament was set to make big gains, largely thanks to Syriza in Greece and United Left in Spain, gaining about 12 seats.
Martin Schulz, the former Socialist president of the European Parliament - said of the FN victory: "It's a bad day for the European Union, when a party with a racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic programme gets 25% of the vote."
Angela Merkel said the response to the far-right swing must be to boost employment and the economy
Morten Messerschmidt, of the Danish People's Party, was among the Eurosceptic winners
But many Socialists had a disappointing night - including their candidate for Commission president Martin Schulz
Sweden's Feminist Initiative becomes the first formally feminist party to send an MEP to Brussels
The parliament's powers have expanded since the last election in 2009, and it is hoping to have a decisive say in who gets the EU's top job, president of the European Commission.
You can follow full coverage with all the latest updates at bbc.co.uk/vote2014.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27572312
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