OFFICIAL EU Parliament elections thread

Have British Europhiles really woken up to what is happening in Europe? Their attitudes towards the EU have always been woefully naive, informed more by their summer holidays in Tuscany and their enjoyment of “sophisticated” European culture than by any real knowledge of how politics on the continent works.

They have spent years criticising Britain as some sort of bigoted backwater, a world apart from that supposed bastion of liberal values, Brussels. Now, however, they may be about to get a massive wake-up call.

Across the EU, people are increasingly voting for hard-Right parties. The European elections began in the Netherlands on Thursday morning and will carry on across the 27 member countries until Sunday night, with the final results known early on Monday.

All the polls are predicting huge gains for Right-wing parties, including some worryingly extreme ones. The Alternative for Germany party – one of whose candidates recently suggested there were good people to be found in the Nazi SS – could come out ahead of Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party.

In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party is expected to trounce president Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance; in Italy, prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, which has its roots in the country’s fascist past, is due to increase its number of seats in the European Parliament. The nationalist Law and Justice party is looking to make a comeback in Poland after losing power last December. It follows a shock win for populist Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom in last November’s Dutch general election.

Yet still Europhiles want to rejoin the bloc – despite some of these European hardliners making Nigel Farage look like Ken Clarke.

We know that, if Labour gets into power, arch-Remainer Sir Keir Starmer is going to push for closer alignment with the EU – because shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has hinted as much. Yet if Right-wing groups do end up substantially increasing their share of the seats in the European Parliament, Starmer and co might want to be careful what they wish for.

Thanks for posting that R1.

Yes, not at all biased article from the Daily fucking Telegraph calling people "Europhiles". 🙄

R2, it's the Telegraph which is a right leaning paper but the facts are a decent summary of the risk. DL tends to be quite naive about the EU as well. It's all fine til the voters get their hands on in.

It's a summary of facts, included in an opinion column, from a right leaning newspapers, yes, R3. Try to calm down. And thanks for proving the point in R4.

Jesus fucking Christ these Eurosceptic vermin just won't go away.

It's other people having a different opinion. Sorry it's so threatening. Let's chat after the results, dear.

Early voted on Wednesday. Chose the centre-left party because they passed SSM. The Orbánist right-wingers want me dead and are publicly calling for Trump to be reelected, so... not really much choice there.

We also had four non-binding consultative referenda at the same time. So I voted yes on medicinal weed, yes on weed for personal use, yes on assisted suicide, and yes on preferential vote in parliamentary elections. Last I checked the surveys, all of them were on track to succeed.

Zzzzzz.....

r6 The whole scummy lot from the Brexit thread came over here in mere seconds of this thread being created.

The article at R1 is even handed. It is an opinion piece but it states facts. It could have been published in any number of newspapers, right or left.

The FACT is, the elections will show Europe leaning further right. I don't think it'll be the bloodbath some are predicting but the far-right will certainly make gains. Is something wrong with pointing that out?

As long as you fucking vote, you have done your job. The majority of Americans eligible to vote choose not to, and you see what the end results of an apathetic, uninformed populace wrought.

R11, there is if your debating skills extent to name calling and la-la-la I can't here you. Otherwise, agreed.

AP explains the European Parliament elections

Euronews live feed

Here... oh, dearing myself.

R8, except for the referendums you and I could be living in the same country. Where I am, the far right have been governing for the last two years or so, and at least one of the coalition parties has called for the reversal of SSM and decried the “unnatural” nature of homosexual parenting, which would just be a form of legalized grooming or trafficking.

OMG I am DEAD!

The couple in the photo @OP look wayyy too much like the intro/outro "Lowered Expectations" sketches on [italic]MadTV.[/italic]

Election results in real time, from The Guardian

[quote]They have spent years criticising Britain as some sort of bigoted backwater, a world apart from that supposed bastion of liberal values, Brussels.

Brussels? Oh, you must mean Northern Marrakesh.

Europeans are digging their own graves.

TheGuardian:

"EU elections 2024 live: France’s far-right National Rally party set for victory with Emmanuel Macron’s allies a distant second"

Marine Le Pen's party.

Looking at The Guardian article, it shows the various political groups, such as “Left” and “S&D”. Which groups are antisemitic and/or anti-Israel? I see the Spanish Prime Minister is mentioned as being in the S&D group, so I assume that group falls in the antisemitic and/or anti-Israel category.

All of this was predicted and expected. Stop treating refugees better than your own citizens, make Muslims integrate or get the fuck out, and stop punishing individuals for climate change when institutions get a free pass.

Also, don't throw things on priceless works of art that are national treasures.

Everywhere, voters in Germany, as in France and every other country, can see the visible failure of Europe’s immigration and integration models. Especially because voters have been told all these years that there is nothing to see here and that if they are worried about illegal mass migration they are bigoted, racist or “conspiracy theorists”.

They are fed up with being told not to notice them or not to object.

The left fucked themselves, no one else is at fault. Citizens are fed up with their neighborhoods turning into downtown Karachi. And who can blame them?

The Progressives generally have the best ideas but all they do is talk down to people, rather than bringing them along. You see it here in R3 and R6. You see in the endless paranoid accusations on DL. Same thing.

This is what you get. Figure it out.

Pundits have predicted that Europe's post-election drift toward the far right will lead to greater sympathy and tolerance toward Putin's Russia.

If so, to put it succinctly, Europe is fucked, beginning with Ukraine.

To cheer us all up a bit.

“ The Progressives generally have the best ideas….”

There’s certainly no doubt that they are convinced of that fact.

Remember when the left had a meltdown over Giorgia Meloni and said it was gonna be Mussolini 2.0? Yeah, didn’t happen. If anything she’s been a disappointment for not adequately dealing with the migrant crisis.

[quote]Remember when the left had a meltdown over Giorgia Meloni

Just wait till they realize Le Pen's party will most likely soon be ruling France.

R30 He's a hairy little beast!

Looking at the preliminary makeup of the new European Parliament, things aren't nearly as apocalyptic as the media, the polling, and the Russian trolls here and elsewhere were predicting. Despite the move to the hard right in Germany and France, not much has actually changed, thanks to the move to the left in Poland. Pretty much the same coalition as in the past 25 years will be in charge for the next five years.

Fallout will be bigger on the national level, as we are now seeing with Macron calling a snap election. It'll be hilarious when Labour landslides in the UK three weeks from now. The Brits have finally realised the right-wingers are all bark and no bite when it comes to immigration. The Italians are slowly starting to understand that with Meloni as well.

Maybe Macron wouldn't have done so badly if he had kept his wife from pawing Queen Camilla.

[quote], and the Russian trolls here and elsewhere

The paranoia that Russian trolls are actually on DL is really funny.

Russian trolls may be more of a euphemism.There are definitely bad actors here, and there's many players in that game.

Not really r39. Believe it or not, gay men are not a monolith. We have differing opinions.

Mkay.

Yup r41. It's true. Good points made on this thread and the other one.

So the 28 year old NF leader could become Prime Minister?

Looking at the results a bit more, I see now that the centrist parties lost about 6.5% and the far right gained about 6.7%. So, a bit more than a ripple, but less than a wave. However, it's still not enough to change the existing power dynamics too much. Largely thanks to Poland's left swing because Poland gets a shit ton of seats.

Germany and France are what really matters in Europe.

And what is more important it is boomers that hold to the center, young people are voting for the right.

Poland hasn't had a "left swing", r44. The conservative coalition won. The PiS party were David Cameron's mates in his "Eurosceptic" grouping in the European parliament.

R22, are you really that fucking stupid? As well as clueless about the groupings in the European Parliament.

The usual detachment from reality from the Brexshitters at r1.

Yes, R49. A little reality check for you. I take no pleasure in the outcome, you small minded little pissant, but I'm delighted if you're choking on it.

R6, how you feeling this morning, hon?

It's not morning in my neck of the woods, Einstein.

Lol r50, you really are detached from reality, you Brexiloon.

Portugal is another one where the left prevailed.

Any and all shift right is due to the original populace waking up to the existential threat of Islamic migration.

A primary tenet of Islam is caliphal. And the West needs to not only push back but cripple it.

Exactly r55. Lots of Westerners are hopelessly naive about Islam. And of course any criticism makes you "racist."