The Brief: Far-right rise in polls ahead of European elections

The Brief: Far-right rise in polls ahead of European elections
By Euronews
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The Italian far right the League’s is expected have the biggest increase of its MEPs, followed by 5 Star movement, the French National Rally, the Hungarian Fidesz and AFD in Germany. And EU-US ties remain strained.

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The Eurosceptic wind is blowing over the next European elections, according to the first polls published by the European Parliament

The Italian far right, the League, is expected to have the biggest increase of its MEPs, followed by Five Star Movement, the French Rassemblement National, the Hungarian Fidesz and AFD in Germany.

Traditional parties are expected to be the biggest groups, but it is projected that these parties will suffer from significant losses.

Speaking to Euronews, Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said he wishes to find good allies to shape a tougher policy on migration in the new hemicycle.

“Our hope, our target is that after the European parliamentarian elections the anti-migration approach will be in majority in all European institutions," Szijjártó said. "So for us, the anti-migration majority is the most important and Hungary will contribute to that.”

But Eurosceptics are not the only ones to gain ground. Liberals are also expected to gain few seats (+7), turning this election into a battle between liberal and illiberal forces.

The socialists, on the contrary, could see the biggest loss (-51 seats). The party seems to be at the edge of a cliff, but this is how their candidate, Frans Timmermans, justifies that:

“For 150 years socialists have been on the edge of the cliff, that’s where we live," Timmermans said. "But also on the edge of the cliff is where the most beautiful flowers can be collected and that’s what we will do as socialist: we will always fight. We always look at the edge of the cliff because we have so much to fight for.”

Nevertheless, polls show that most Europeans (68 percent) believe that EU membership of their country is a good idea. These polls hint that citizens still want the EU, but with a more national approach.

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