European Parliament: Eastern Europe sees strong performance from centrist parties

Centrist pro-European parties performed well overall in central and eastern Europe during the European parliament elections on Sunday (9), partial results and exit polls showed, contrasting with the trend in other parts of the continent. where the far right advanced.

In Poland, the European Union’s largest eastern member, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO), was projected to win the European vote, according to an exit poll, taking a step toward establishing itself as the dominant force in the country after a campaign driven by security concerns.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party came first but recorded its worst result in a national or EU election in nearly two decades, while support rose for the pro-European Tisza party, led by newcomer politician Peter Magyar.

“We have shown that our choices, our efforts, have a much broader dimension than just our national issues… we have shown that we are a beacon of hope for Europe,” Tusk told supporters following the poll results.

“Those in power in Germany have no reason to be happy, and those in France have reason for dramatic sadness,” Tusk said, adding: “Among great countries, Poland has shown that democracy triumphs here.”

Security

With war raging in Ukraine and an immigration crisis on the border with Belarus, Tusk framed the vote in Poland as a choice between a secure future in a country at the heart of the EU or a more dangerous one if the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, known as for his conflicts with Brussels, defeated.

According to the IPSOS exit poll, KO won 38.2% of the vote, ahead of PiS who had 33.9%, in a result that would mark the end of a decade of PiS victories.

In Hungary, partial results showed Fidesz with 43.8% of the vote and Tisza de Magyar with 31%.

Magyar entered Hungarian politics earlier this year, promising to root out corruption and revive the democratic checks and balances that critics say were eroded under Orbán.

In Romania, the ruling coalition of left-wing Social Democrats (PSD) and center-right liberals (PNL) won 54% of the vote in the European Parliament elections in which they ran on joint lists, according to an exit poll.

AUR, a far-right group founded five years ago that opposes immigration and military aid to Ukraine, came second in European polls with 14% of the vote.

Progressive Slovakia, a liberal, pro-Western opposition party in Slovakia, defeated SMER-SD, the largest party in the left-wing nationalist government led by Prime Minister Robert Fico, who survived an assassination attempt last month.

In the Czech Republic, ANO, a populist opposition, beat the center-right group Spolu, which leads the government.