“According to the preliminary results of the European Parliament elections, the ultra-right-wing parties will dominate the transnational parliament, outpacing the ruling elite parties,” the post on the Telegram channel ATN_NEWS said on June 10, 2024.
Belarus’ House of Representatives member, Dmitry Shevtsov, echoed the same message on TV ONT on June 12, 2024: “Look at who won — the far-right in the overwhelming majority. So, if we consider the European Parliament, who’s coming?”
Following the election results, the European Parliament is not dominated by far-right parties. But they won more seats there than in the vote five years ago. For example, in France, Austria, and Italy they became the first, and in Germany — second.
The chart above shows how seats in the European Parliament are distributed among different groups, from far-left to far-right.
The far-right is traditionally considered to be comprised of two extreme groups. The first is the “European Conservatives and Reformists,” including, for example, Poland’s “Law and Justice,” Italy’s “Brothers of Italy,” and other right-wing parties from across the continent. The second far-right faction is “Identity and Democracy,” led by Marine Le Pen of France and Matteo Salvini of Italy. Together, these two European factions have just under 20% of the seats in the parliament.
Two centrist blocs — the European People’s Party and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats — have won more seats than the above factions, though the gap is not wide.
The power dynamic in the European Parliament has remained largely unchanged after the recent elections, with the same parties remaining in the majority. Centrist parties have retained their dominant position.
The BIC provides more insight into European right-wing parties in its analytical article All side with Putin? Pro-Russian politicians in the EU: Who are they and how much influential they have?