EU elections: Slovakian poll stays open late; Latvia, Malta closed on third day

Yesterday, voters cast their ballots more than 15,000 km away from Brussels, in the French overseas territories of Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Saint-Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and French Polynesia.

French media report this morning that turnout was at a historic low at 17.00 local time in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean.

In Guyane, just over 13% of voters were estimated to have voted.

That figure stood at just 8% in Martinique, and 11% in Guadeloupe.

The European elections are sometimes described as 27 mini-elections driven by national issues.

In many member states, the vote has been framed as a referendum on national governments, with campaigns shaped more by domestic issues than European ones.

Euronews' correspondents breaks down what's at stake in key national battlegrounds as Europe goes to the polls.

European elections: Your country-by-country guide to the vote

Euronews’ correspondents break down what’s at stake in the major national battlegrounds as voters prepare to head to the polls. #EuropeNews

And another electoral day has reached its conclusion after Italy closed polling stations at 11pm - though polls will be open for Italians again tomorrow all day. Slovakians too will continue voting into the night, having extended the voting process for an extra three hours due to an incident (scroll down for more details).

Today, polling stations closed in Czechia, Latvia, and Malta, having closed in the Netherlands and Ireland on previous days: For everywhere else - tomorrow will be the big election day.

From tomorrow evening, all eyes will be on the first projection of the new European Parliament, expected around 8:15-8:30 pm. These initial projections, based on national estimates, will provide the first glimpse into the potential makeup of the Parliament and set the tone for the night's discussions and reactions.

Expect then a long, intense electoral day that you can follow live on Euronews TV starting from 6 pm.

That's all from me for today, my colleague Mared Gwyn Jones will take over tomorrow morning. Have a good night!

Malta polls were closed as expected at 10pm this evening. The figures on turnout haven't been released yet but at midday were higher than at the same time five years ago.

Rules to calculate the turnout were however recently updated to take into account the voting documents rather than registered voters, meaning that a comparison with turnout of previous years won't be that straightforward.

Paolo Grimoldi, former secretary of the original Lombard League, informed Italian media that he had a call from Umberto Bossi in which the old Lega leader confessed to not having voted for the party he founded.

“I will just report what he asked me to do and let it be known: Umberto Bossi will vote for Reguzzoni [former Lega MP, now independent candidate with Forza Italia] because the League has been betrayed," Grimoldi said.

Salvini’s hard-line leaning toward the radical right has been heavily criticised by Lega veterans who are more interested in reducing Northern regions' ties with the central state than curbing immigration.

Nor did they appreciate Salvini's choice of gambling all on his controversial pick of far-right general Roberto Vannacci to head the party's list in the EU elections. It is uncertain whether Vannacci's extreme views will ward off or attract voters.

See Euronews' profile of Roberto Vannacci for more details.

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Several pro-EU rallies against right-wing extremists were organised in Germany today with tens of thousands of people gathered in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig among other cities.

The target of demonstrators, organised by civil society groups, was the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) which is looks set to achieve its best ever electoral performance.

Despite looking likely to scoop up as many as 20 MEPs, AfD remains a pariah party in Brussels after controversial comments by the party's lead candidate, Maximilian Krah, which sparked Marine Le Pen's wrath, leading to the expulsion of the party from her parliamentary group, the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID).

The final turnout in Latvia stayed at 33.7%, a very slight increase compared to 2019 data (33.5%) and far from the country's all-time record, set in 2009, when more than half of eligible voters went to the polls.

A poll released just ahead of the main day of EU elections by London-based public pollster Focaldata shows climate to be high among concerns of European voters going to the polls in six key countries.

The survey, involving over 6,000 citizens from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, and Sweden, indicates that 69% of Europeans consider climate change an important factor when voting.

“Pro-climate attitudes remain strong albeit at different levels across European countries whilst salient concerns about the cost of living, immigration - and on the right borders and identity - seem to be a driver for certain voters,” said James Kanagasooriam, chief research officer at Focaldata.

Of those surveyed, 34% stated that climate change is "very important", while 35% described it as "somewhat important" in their voting considerations for the European Parliament.

The poll also highlights significant support for EU climate policies and initiatives, with 68% of respondents agreeing with current EU climate policies or advocating for even more ambitious measures. Opposition to increased climate investment is minimal, with only 10% of those surveyed expressing disagreement with further investments.

Here Euronews' Marta Pacheco delves into the main green achievements in this mandate, pointing out which laws were held back by MEPs.

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If your goal for the evening was to have a better political grasp of what’s going on in Slovakia, you might need to stay awake a bit longer than planned.

Polling stations were originally set to close at 10pm, but the election has been extended until 1am after an incident in Palárikovo, where votes were interrupted due to some white powder being discovered on the ballots.

The substance turned out to be innocuous, but the issue hindered voting for a few hours as officials gauged the situation - unsurprising in view of the likely frayed nerves in the wake of the recent shocked attempted assassination of prime minister Robert Fico.

This also means that any unofficial results won’t be available before much later tonight or tomorrow morning – while the official outcome, as we know already, will be communicated after the closing of all polling stations in Europe at 11 pm tomorrow.

In just a matter of months, 43-year-old lawyer Péter Magyar has built up Hungary's strongest opposition party and now hopes to use a good showing in Sunday's EU elections to propel himself and his movement toward defeating the nationalist Orbán in the next national ballot scheduled for 2026.

In the blazing heat on Saturday, Magyar addressed the sprawling crowd that filled Budapest Heroes' Square, saying that he and his movement would build “a more beautiful, peaceful and happy country” and bring an end to Orbán's 14 years in power.

Recent polls show that Fidesz is likely to take the most votes of any party in Sunday's election, but that Magyar’s party, Respect and Freedom (TISZA), could gain up to 30% and unseat some of the Fidesz MEPs among Hungary’s 21-member delegation in the EU legislature.

Read more on Euronews.

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Italy’s centre-right Forza Italia – the country’s affiliate of the European People’s Party (EPP) – has always been strongly linked to its controversial founder, the late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Forza Italia has struggled to maintain relevance in Italy’s fragmented political arena and these EU elections, the first after Berlusconi’s death in 2023, will be a test of survival, as it vies to beat Salvini's hard right Lega party.

With so much at stake, current party leader Antonio Tajani has devised a provocative solution, seeking to mollify voters pining for Berlusconi by telling them it will actually be possible for them to vote for Silvio again.

The former European Parliament president - whose name is circulating as a potential pick for next Italian Commissioner, a post he has twice held in the past - said voters who prefer may strike the Forza Italia symbol on the ballot paper without expressing any preference for a candidate but just writing Berlusconi instead.

Italian electoral rules explicitly say that the preference vote must be cast exclusively for candidates included in the list , so what is going on here?

Tajani is banking on those manning the polling stations applying the rules according to the principle of ‘favor voti"' - Latin: in favour of the voter - giving voters maximum benefit of the doubt when counting the votes. Under this principle, a voting paper will be considered valid unless there are very clear signs that the voter intended to spoil his or her vote.

"The will of the voter prevails, whoever writes Berlusconi reinforces their voting intention,” according to Tajani.

Tajani's tactic has not been verified, but appealing to voters still nostalgic for the charisma of the former cruise-ship crooner is obviously worth a punt.

Leader of Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) Geert Wilders was in Belgium today to join the last rally before the vote of the Flemish radical right Vlaams Belang party

.

Vlaams Belang is the successor of the Vlaams Blok party, dissolved amid racism charges twenty years ago. Despite the rebrand, Belgium's other parties have maintained a strict cordon sanitaire against cooperation with Flemish nationalists in federal or local government.

That was similarly the case with PVV for years until a few weeks ago when they managed to form a government for the first time. “What is possible in the Netherlands is also possible in Flanders,” said Wilders.

“Every vote counts now. If we become the largest party in Flanders tomorrow, we will make Flanders ours again!" echoed Tom Van Grieken, leader of Vlaams Belang.

Belgians will also vote for the national election on Sunday with Vlaams Belang expected to increase its showing in the federal Parliament, and gain a ticket to enter a ruling coalition.

If the Dutch exit polls are confirmed on Sunday, Wilders' PVV will win seven seats in the European Parliament, where before it held one. Vlaams Belang is expected to win four seats according to Euronews polls, adding one to its current tally.

Italians might be the last in Europe to close their polling stations on Sunday but their political leaders were early ballot birds, with many casting votes a couple of hours after polls opened.

"You will decide the future of Italy and Europe. Now everything is in your hands," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni - whose party Brothers of Italy is expected to win the elections - wrote on X.

Elly Schlein, the leader of the centre-left PD party, voted in Bologna accompanied by her partner without comment. A completely different approach from Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-migrant Lega party, who told reporters he voted “against bombers like Macron”.

Former prime minister and president of the liberal Italia Viva party, Matteo Renzi voted in his native Florence with his wife and daughter Ester - who curiously came of voting age today. Carlo Calenda, the leader of the other liberal party, Azione, went to the polls with his son, who was also voting for first time today.

Elections in Czechia ended at 2 pm with some encouraging initial data on the turnout, which was higher than five years ago in several constituencies a few hours before polls closed with a peak in the two biggest cities, Prague and Brno, around 40%.

Turnout is a key determinant of outcome in a country notorious for voter apathy, with a low ratio of votes for MEPs for a country with 10 million inhabitants.

All went quite smoothly from an organisational perspective, according to the police, with no incidents recorded aside from two attempted thefts of EU flags at ballot boxes in the villages of Zelenecká Lhota and Břevnice. The perpetrators may now face prosecution for a misdemeanour.

From polling stations closing at nightfall on Sunday to the ban on publishing polls two weeks ahead of election days, Italian laws governing the conduct of elections might appear odd to an outsider.

Another quirk - Italian politicians are supposed to respect the so-called ‘electoral silence’ breaking off communications from midnight before election day, to allow voters pause to reflect on their choices.

While similar provisions exist in France and Spain, Italy is a special case because these rules have never been updated since 1956 – a time when there were fewer than 20,000 TV sets in the country. As a result, it is still unclear whether leaders and political parties can use social media to communicate to potential voters on election day.

According to the Regulatory Agency for Communication (AGCOM), these rules extend to all direct and indirect electoral campaign activities, including online platforms. “The competence on the respect for electoral silence does not lie with Agcom but with the Ministry of the Interior,” said authority commissioner Antonello Giacomelli on Facebook.

Most parties comply with the rules, with some exceptions: Lega’s leader Matteo Salvini, for instance, has already posted electoral content on his X account today.

On the other hand, Meloni finagled playfully to bypass the ban last year, by posing with two melons - a nod to her name, which translates as such in Italian. Likewise this year she shared an Instagram video of her at a greengrocers inquiring about cherries, which were called ‘Giorgias’, posted just before the ban became operative.

The stamp of prime minister Giorgia Meloni is all over the country’s EU poll, which runs until 10pm today, then again tomorrow from 7am to 11pm. The hard-right leader of the Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) has put herself on the top of her party’s candidate list in all five regions of the country – although she is unlikely to take up a seat, which would mean resigning as prime minister.

Announcing her candidacy in April, Meloni said she wanted to forge a new centre-right alliance and relegate the left to the opposition across Europe.

The nature of that alliance remains to be seen, but with the polls suggesting ECR group member Fratelli d’Italia is set to increase its seats in the European Parliament from six to comfortably over 20, Meloni is set to assume the role of kingmaker in the selection of the next president of the European Commission.

This means she could make or break incumbent Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second term, and has been courted both by the German EPP group candidate and France’s nationalist front runner Marine le Pen.

Thanks for staying with us so far. I’m now handing over to my colleague Gerardo Fortuna.

MEP Roberta Metsola, current president of the European Parliament, has cast her vote in Malta, where she tops the list of the centre-right (sic) Nationalist Party.

...seems to be a question a lot of EU citizens ask themselves when the European Parliament election rolls around every five years, if turnout figures are anything to go by.

Here my colleague Jorge Liboreiro explains the process of electing one of the two EU bodies with legislative power (the other being the EU Council, comprising ministers from all 27 national governments) – and who can vote, where, and when.

Only the Netherlands and Ireland have wrapped up their voting so far, so the race is still wide open – though you'll have to move quickly in Czechia, where the polling stations close their doors at 2pm.

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European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič, in charge of the European Green Deal since Dutchman Frans Timmermans returned to national politics last year, has cast his vote in Slovakia. "Your voice matters," he says.

The run-up to the EU election has been marked by a backlash against climate and environment policy, particularly on the centre- and far-right, with roudy farmers' protests seen in Brussels and across the union, most recently on the French-Spanish border.

The EU enjoys high levels of support in Latvia – whose citizens are heading for the polls today - and its neighbouring Baltic states. Membership of the bloc has brought visa-free travel, economic development and human rights to these small states, annexed by the former Soviet Union until 1991, Euronews' Joshua Askew has reported.

Aleksandra Palkova from the Latvian Institute of International Affairs told Euronews that owing to the minimal percentage of people in the Baltics opposing the EU, anti-EU political parties often try to conceal themselves, knowing such views will make them unpopular. 

In Latvia, the former ‘Eurosceptic Action Party’ rebranded itself as the ‘Action Party’ in 2008, for example, after securing a meagre 0.37% in 2006 elections.

“Eurosceptic parties need issues they can use against the EU that concern society. But since people in the Baltics are worried about Russia and economic benefits, which are covered by the EU, eurosceptic ideas don't really work," Palkova said, adding: "They don't have anything to pick up on." 

A situation that the Brussels institutions would surely wish was true of the bloc at large.

Read Joshua's article here:

From gains to grumbles: Euroscepticism in the Baltic states

Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians overwhelmingly support the EU, which has helped usher in an era of freedom and prosperity. But what makes some oppose it?

Local paper Malta Today is reporting the island nation has just shy of 333,000 eligible to vote today, after only one in ten of the electorate failed to pick up their papers by the Thursday deadline (confounding pollsters who had predicted a much higher abstention rate).

Although living in the smallest EU member state, Maltese citizens – from age 16 – are casting the most powerful individual votes in the election.

If the number of seats in the European Parliament was in exact proportion to the population of each member state, Malta’s half a million citizens should be sending slightly less than one MEP to Brussels. In fact, under the ‘degressively proportional’ allocation system, they get six.

Also, Malta has historically recorded one of the highest turnouts in EU elections, with almost 73% in 2019 third only to Belgium and Luxembourg, where voting is compulsory.

Opinion polls over recent weeks have consistently shown the Labour Party (which currently has four MEPs) leading with around 50% support, despite deputy prime minister and presumptive nominee for Malta’s European Commission post Chris Fearne falling on his sword last month in a hospital corruption scandal.

The Nationalist Party (PN), whose list is topped by Roberta Metsola (seen above during an official visit to her home country yesterday in her capacity as European Parliament President), is close behind on 40%. Despite its name, it is a Christian Democrat conservative party, a member of the centre-right EPP group.

Euronews' latest superpoll suggests Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right party is on course for a major victory in Italy, with her Brothers of Italy (FdI) party likely to win over a quarter of the vote.

Overall, our survey of eight representative countries confirms predictions of a strengthening of the conservative block in the European Parliament alongside a surge by parties further to the right in several member states.

Voting in Italy opens at 3pm today, and continues on Sunday.

The mountainous central European country has the dubious distinction of recording the lowest ever turnout in an EU election: just 13% in 2014. Although it reached 22% last time round – part of a broader uptick that saw EU-wide participation inch past 50% for the first time since 1994 – it still holds the EU election record for voter apathy.

This time Slovak voters head to the polls under the shadow of the near-fatal shooting of Prime Minister Robert Fico on 15 May – the first assassination attempt on a European government leader in over 20 years. In his first speech since the attack, posted on social media on Wednesday, the left-wing populist premier blamed a hostile media and the “hateful politics” of the opposition for creating the conditions where such an attack was inevitable.

In the 14-minute monologue, Fico accused Brussels and larger European countries of trying to curtail Slovakia’s sovereignty. But in his only address before campaign silence, he made no direct call for Slovaks to back his Smer party, or even vote in the election.

Polling stations opened at 7am, and close at 10pm.

Welcome to the third and penultimate day of the world’s second largest parliamentary election. This is Robert Hodgson at Euronews' headquarters in the centre of the EU capital. Our team of reporters across Europe will be bringing you the latest developments throughout the day, as they happen.

So far only the Netherlands and Ireland have finished voting for their share of the 720 seats up for grabs in the European Parliament in Brussels/Strasbourg. Czechs who didn’t vote on a first day of polling yesterday have until 2pm today to do so.

Getting under way right now are the national ballots in three more of the 2004 crop of accession countries: Slovakia, Latvia, and the EU’s smallest member, Malta.

At 3pm this afternoon, Italy is set to kick off a national ballot that will resume on Sunday morning, election day proper, when the bulk of Europe’s citizens have the opportunity to cast their ballot.

That's a wrap! Thanks for staying with us until late on this second day of the EU election week.



·     Today, polling stations opened (and closed) in Ireland while Czechs will have from 8 am to 2 pm tomorrow to cast their votes

·     Ballot boxes will be opened in Ireland from 9 am where we’ll be expected to know more about the outcome of the elections

·     Media reports suggest that turnout in Ireland is also likely to be confirmed at the 2019 figure of 50% - with the country’s usual late evening surge to the polls

·     Voter turnout remains key in Czechia, where notoriously few head to the ballots during EU elections. Initial data released two hours after polls opened was discouraging: Prague alone was reported to have turnout higher than 10%

·     This electoral campaign continues to be marked by attacks and violence: Danish PM Frederiksen was assaulted this evening in Copenhagen.

Good night! My colleague Robert Hodgson will pick up tomorrow on a day when Italy, Latvia and Malta head to the polls!

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has been assaulted by a man in a central street in Copenhagen, Danish media have reported.

The man who attacked Frederiksen was arrested by police immediately afterwards, but the incident left the Prime Minister shocked, her office confirmed to Danish TV channel TV2.

“I must say that it shakes all of us who are close to her. Something like this must not happen in our beautiful, safe, and free country,” the country’s environment minister Magnus Heunicke, from Frederiksen’s social-democrat party, posted on X.

Frederiksen's name has been sounded in Brussels as a potential successor of Charles Michel at the helm of the European Council.

Last month, Slovakia's Prime Minister survived an assassination attempt in the central Slovakian town of Handlová.

Just earlier today, Euronews Jack Schickler reported on the widespread disruption and violence that has dogged these elections.

Centre-right wing European People's Party (EPP) leading candidate Ursula von der Leyen ends her electoral campaign in Munich tonight at a rally organised by the German Christian-democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian branch (CSU).

"Over the past weeks, we have fought together and campaigned as a team," she said on X, tagged to a picture of herself standing next to her one-party rival rival Manfred Weber, EPP chairman.

Previously this afternoon, von der Leyen was in neighbouring Austria where she met with Karl Nehammer, Austrian Chancellor and chairperson of the Austrian People's Party, to "talk about the political situation in Europe and Austria before important elections on Sunday."

In line with polls from the get-go of this year's EU elections, the next European Parliament will shift to the right, according to the last Euronews Super Polls conducted in eight representative EU countries.

Despite robust growth, the far-right is not expected to dominate the next legislative term, while conservatives and Christian democrats should win a clear majority in the overall vote.

No surprises are predicted in France, where the National Rally of Marine Le Pen is expected to make large gains, and in Italy, where Giorgia Meloni’s right party Brothers of Italy is set to win big.

On the other hand, Germany and Spain will be centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) strongholds in this election, according to the poll. Spanish socialists led by revenant prime minister Pedro Sanchez are expected to perform well with a slow but steady growth of German social democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

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Czechia’s prime minister Petr Fiala showed up at a polling station in Brno together with his family but accompanied by a dozen security guards, Czech media has reported.

The assassination attempt last month of Robert Fico, prime minister of neighbouring Slovakia, led Czech authorities to raise the level of caution for these elections. "I have no reason not to trust my bodyguards and the police, I fully respect their work and I don't interfere with them,” Fial said after the vote, Czech online media iDNES reports.

Other party leaders in Czechia such as Christian Democrat Marian Jurečka, ANO’s Andrej Babiš, and far-right SPD's Tomio Okamura have already cast their votes, as well as former presidents Václav Klaus and Miloš Zeman.

Geert Wilders is feeling sunny the day after the Dutch elections even if the Dutch Labour/Green alliance appears to have edged ahead of his far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), according to the first exit polls.

"Nothing will be the same again," he writes on X, promising that many other far-right parties will join them in Brussels.

Wilders party was a big gainer last night, even if it didn't garner the most votes and seats, if the exit polls are confirmed on Sunday, Wilders' PVV will win seven seats, where before it held one.

“We should stop thinking about Europe in terms of us and them because Europe is all of us,” Czech President Petr Pavel wrote on X this afternoon after casting his vote.

Czechia is experiencing a growing trend of euroscepticism for which his words might have sounded a soft rebuke. Both the major ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Andrej Babiš’ ANO - which is expected to top today's poll - have adopted critical stances toward the EU, and not just in the current political campaign.

Pro-European parties are still present in the Czech political arena, from the European People’s Party (EPP) affiliate TOP09 to the centre-left Pirates party. However, 49% of the Czechs surveyed in the most recent Eurobarometer still tend not to trust the EU institutions, being also quite critical of the European Green Deal - with 36% of them rejecting the idea of a common energy policy.

Věra Jourová, the European Commission's Vice-President for Values and Transparency, has cast her vote in her native Třebíč, in southern Czechia. "My vote for better Europe," she wrote in a simple social media post.

A two-time Commissioner, Jourová has become a well-known and respected figure in Brussels. She hails from the liberal family of Renew Europe, although her ties with ANO, the party led by the controversial Andrej Babiš, have left her with no credible chance of being nominated by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

In the past few years, Jourová has built a reputation for her resistance to democratic backsliding, most prominently in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, where she has been the target of political censure. The Czech Commissioner also led negotiations for the Media Freedom Act, a pioneering law to protect European journalists from state interference and espionage, and pushed to increase the accountability and transparency of Big Tech platforms.

If the 2019 electoral cycle was dominated by calls for decisive action against climate change, the 2024 cycle has the opposite theme.

Conservative parties, backed by some liberal factions, are demanding a pause, or even a reversal, of the Green Deal, the flagship initiative of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. One of the reasons behind this request is the ongoing farmer protests, which have put agriculture back on the political table and forced Brussels to offer last-minute, hastily-designed concessions.

But how important is this sector for the EU economy? We break down the main facts and figures.

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Czech citizens are today and tomorrow heading to the polls to elect the next Members of the European Parliament. However, some municipalities will also vote in local referendums.

There are a variety of reasons for these, as CT24 reports, for example the residents of Dolní Lutyna will vote on whether to green light building a factory for electric vehicle batteries. In the small town of Moravské Beroun, the debate will centre on a wind power plant, while voters in Dobřany will decide whether fireworks should be limited to New Year's celebrations.

Under Czech law, a referendum is valid if at least 35% of eligible voters participate. Read more from CT24.

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Lidé v několika obcích budou tento pátek a sobotu 7. a 8. června vybírat nejen zástupce do Evropského parlamentu, ale také hlasovat v místních referendech. Min…

All eyes in Czechia are on the electoral performance of ANO 2011 led by the country’s controversial former prime minister, Andrej Babiš. The party - whose acronym stands for ‘action of dissatisfied citizens’ - has lately adopted a quite conservative stance, seen leaning toward soft populism, despite remaining formally within the European liberal party ALDE.

This has cast ANO’s future membership of the liberal parliamentary Renew Europe group in doubt. Babis himself has previously considered Renew’s position too pro-European for his party.

If it split from Renew, it appears extremely unlikely ANO would join the conservative ECR group, where the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of Czech PM Petr Fiala, Babiš’s main political opponent, already sits.

The four or five MEPs that ANO is expected to send to Strasbourg could become involved in other intriguing attempts to create new groups or reinforce existing ones - for instance, the setting up of a bigger hard right group including Le Pen's Rassemblement National and Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia or of a new, smaller one with Viktor Orbán's Fidesz.

Turnout in the Netherlands at yesterday's vote increased by 5% compared to 2019, with 47% of Dutch people casting a ballot. This offers a glimmer of hope for the European Parliament, which has historically struggled to connect with voters and convince them to go to the polls. Five years ago, turnout stood at 50.66%, the first time it surpassed the 50% threshold since 1994.

So how high will the number be this year? In the last available Eurobarometer, 71% of respondents declared they were "likely" to vote, a 10-point increase from 2019. By contrast, 14% said they were "not likely" to vote while 13% remained "neutral." In Czechia, where voting began today, the likelihood rate surged from 39% in 2019 to 58% in 2024. This is an eye-popping stat for a traditionally more eurosceptic state. In Ireland, the figure was higher, jumping from 64% to 76% in the same period.

The Eurobarometer also asked citizens to rate the "importance" they attach to the elections: 53% spoke of "high importance," 36% of "medium importance" and 10% of "low importance." Read more about the findings.

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According to Ireland Votes analysis the overall voter turnout stood at 15% by 12:30.

Time for me, Romane Armangau, to clock off now, and leave the liveblog in the hands of my talented colleague Gerardo Fortuna!

The two EU countries voting today are currently at odds over one crucial topic: the Israel-Hamas war.

On the one hand, Czechia is a long-time defender of Israel and has openly denounced the actions of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) prosecutor, who is seeking arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, together with three leaders of Hamas. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the simultaneous filing was "appalling and completely unacceptable."

On the other hand, Ireland has become one of the bloc's most vocal critics of Netanyahu's government, demanding an immediate ceasefire and an urgent review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Earlier this year, Ireland intervened in the case against Israel under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which Netanyahu has dismissed as full of "hypocrisy and lies."

Last month, Ireland made headlines once again after it recognised the State of Palestine, a move coordinated with Spain and Norway. Shortly after the announcement, our reporter Shona Murray flew to Dublin and sat down with Prime Minister Simon Harris to understand his reasons. Watch the full interview on The Global Conversation.

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"If you don't turn up you're allowing someone else to speak on your behalf," prime minister Simon Harris told reporters after casting his vote in Delgany.

Our colleague Fay Doulgkeri is in Greece covering the closing days of the campaign. Ruling centre-right party New Democracy (EPP), led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is currently leading the race, according to polls, followed by Left-wing party Syriza (The Left) and centre-left Pasok (S&D).

Candidates share their views on the elections and their hopes for high turnout. ⤵️

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From Pro-Kremlin hacker attacks to angry reactions from political leaders (including Ursula von der Leyen): Here’s a useful recap from Euronews' Jack Schickler on an EU election marred by disruptions.

EU election campaign marred by disruption, violence

Europeans are going to the polls in a fraught geopolitical environment. #EuropeNews

Migration is top-of-mind for citizens as they head to the polls in Ireland and Czechia. That's the case in other member states too as they open voting stations this weekend. The elections come less than a month after member states gave the final approval to the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, an all-encompassing policy that occupied almost four years of negotiations.

Czechia has been a notable sceptic of the reform, which includes a novel system of "mandatory solidarity" that would give governments three options to manage asylum-seekers: relocate a certain number, pay €20,000 for each one they reject, or finance operational support. As a result, Czechia abstained during last month's final vote.

As the focus shifts to the New Pact's implementation, parties have come up with additional proposals to manage irregular arrivals. From issuing climate visas to setting up naval missions, here's an overview of what each political family proposes to do.

EU elections: What do parties want to do on migration and asylum?

As the elections to the European Parliament draw closer, Euronews breaks down what parties want to do with what is arguably the most divisive topic of the poli…

Thank you for those who participated in our poll, here are the results.

Immigration and the environment are the most important issues for you, but what about other European citizens?

Euronews met with voters to grasp what is on their minds ahead of the elections. Click below to watch the video.

Video. Economy, migration, climate: Voters’ main concerns ahead of elections

Video. Euronews correspondents spoke to European citizens in Brussels about what their main concerns are ahead of the EU vote.

Polling stations officially opened at 2pm for Czech voters. They will remains open today until 10pm and re-open tomorrow from 8am to 2pm. Czechia is unusual in staggering its voting over two days in this way.

The 83-year-old Irish President, Michael D. Higgins, who has been in office since 2011, voted in the European Elections this morning.

Widely popular in Ireland, he was re-elected for a second term in 2018, winning 56% of the vote in the first round of the presidential election.

Ursula von der Leyen, the lead candidate for the European People's Party (EPP), thinks she has the necessary political backing to be re-appointed president of the European Commission. "I'm confident that I have the support of many leaders. They know me and they know my experience," von der Leyen told a group of journalists while campaigning in Porto, according to a write-up by Agencia EFE.

The selection of the Commission president, the bloc's most powerful position, is two-fold: first, leaders in the European Council pick a name taking into account the results of the elections. Then, the name is put to a confirmation vote in the European Parliament, where at least 361 endorsements will be required.

While von der Leyen is widely expected to receive the Council's blessing, her path in the Parliament appears trickier. Her overture to Giorgia Meloni has infuriated progressives, who threaten to vote her down if she moves further to the right.

In the interview, von der Leyen says she will work "from the centre" and talk with political groups that meet her three basic criteria: being pro-European, being pro-Ukraine and being a defender of the rule of law. According to the incumbent, Meloni meets the three.

"Those on the extreme left and the extreme right are trying to divide us and we won't let them succeed. The centre must prevail," von der Leyen told the media pool.

Von der Leyen, “convencida del apoyo de muchos líderes”

Ursula von der Leyen, “convencida” de que cuenta con el apoyo de “muchos” jefes de Estado y de Gobierno para repetir en el cargo.

The President of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament, Iratxe García, has congratulated the Dutch Labour/Green alliance for pipping Geert Wilders to a preliminary victory in the Dutch exit polls.

"The message to Europe and to the far right is loud and clear! We are ready to build a new course to protect our progressive values and a strong social and green," García said on social media platform X.

The final results will be confirmed on Sunday evening, but the early estimation suggests the left-leaning alliance has clinched eight of the Netherlands' 31 seats in the European Parliament, while Geert Wilders' far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) has secured seven.

It is still a staggering performance for Wilders, who previously had only one lawmaker representing his party in the European Parliament, and who romped home to a surprise victory in last November's general election in the Netherlands.

His party has since struck a coalition deal with fellow right-leaning and centrist parties.

• Security and Defense : 8
• Environment and Climate Change : 10
• Immigration and Border Control : 11
• European Competiveness : 2
• Cost of living : 7

Of the 263,000 Finns living abroad, 15,071 cast their votes overseas from Finnish diplomatic and consular missions across 86 countries. Brussels, Stockholm, and London were the busiest polling stations, but the countries with the highest increase in participation were Australia (791%), the Netherlands (32%), and Norway (29%). Advance voting from abroad was possible from May 29 to June 1.

Results will be announced on Sunday evening!

Newly designated prime minister of Ireland and leader of the centre-right Fine Gael, Simon Harris voted this morning in Delgany, County Wicklow. Harris is active on social media - he's been dubbed the ‘TikTok Taoiseach’ - and he shared this picture this morning with his 200,000 followers on Instagram.

The recent introduction of tougher immigration laws in the United Kingdom have led to an influx of arrivals in Ireland, exacerbating tensions between communities and resulting in recent acts of violence, and Euronews' Ken Murray tells the story.

An already strained housing market has been stretched to breaking point, with prices skyrocketing and Irish facing greater challenges accessing accommodation. Here's Euronews' Eleanor Butler on that housing shortage.

Irish parties are vying for 14 seats in the European Parliament. Opinion polls indicate a decline in support for Sinn Féin (The Left), the centre-left party and primary opposition, while Fine Gael, the centre-right party (EPP), has surged forward following an internal leadership change, with Simon Harris now serving as Ireland's Prime Minister. In third position in the polls is the liberal Fianna Fáil party (ALDE). Various independent candidates have emerged and could potentially seize some seats in the hemicycle.

Although it's voting for the European Elections, residents of 949 cities in Ireland will also cast ballots for 1,000 councillors, and Limerick, the third-largest city in Ireland, will vote for its mayor.

Czechia, under its Prime Minister Petr Fiala, is one of the two EU countries led by a member of the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) family, which is expected to make inroads in this election. The other is Italy, where Giorgia Meloni holds sway.

Fiala's Civic Democratic Party (ODS, in Czech) belongs to the ECR group while his junior partners, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, are affiliated with the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), considered part of the pro-European mainstream in Brussels. Together, the three form the SPOLU alliance and run as one joint list.

These political arrangements have been sharply criticised by progressive forces, who say the EPP is moving too much to the right and abandoning the traditional centre. This rapprochement, they argue, risks normalising radical, Eurosceptic positions and dismantling a decades-long cordon sanitaire which sees the mainstream parties shun association with them. Since entering office, however, Fiala and Meloni have played ball with Brussels, toning down their rhetoric and becoming strong supporters of Ukraine. Ursula von der Leyen, the EPP's lead candidate, has publicly courted both ECR figures as part of her re-election bid, an overture that progressives have also denounced.



As Czech voters head to the polls, the country’s prime minister Petr Fiala says his conservative alliance of parties, SPOLU (TOGETHER), will “strengthen Europe’s security against threats from Russia and China", our reporter Mared Gwyn Jones writes in this update on the situation there:

The SPOLU alliance brings together three right-leaning parties: Fiala’s Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the Christian-democratic KDU-ČSL and the liberal-conservative TOP 09.

Back in March, the Czech secret services foiled a Moscow-backed influence operation alleged to have paid lawmakers sitting in the European Parliament in Brussels to "promote" its propaganda in the bloc. The Belgian federal prosecutor has since opened an investigation.

At the heart of the influence operation was a news company called ‘Voice of Europe’, which has since been sanctioned both in Czechia and in the European Union.

“TOGETHER we will strengthen Europe's security against threats from Russia and China,” Fiala said on social media platform X.

The polls opened in Ireland at 7am today, but Czechs will have to wait until 2pm to cast their ballots. Polling stations in both countries will remain open until 10pm tonight.

During the last elections in 2019, not even a third (29%) of eligible Czech voters showed up at the polls, by contrast almost half of Ireland's voting public (49%) participated.

Euronews Podcaster Maïa de la Baume dissected last night's result with our Dutch correspondent in her latest Radio Schuman episode.

What’s behind the Netherlands’ far-right, Greens/Socialists win?

Radio Schuman is your new go-to podcast to spice up your weekday mornings with relevant news, insights, and behind-the-scenes stories from Brussels and beyond

"The assumption that the radical right would sweep this election has not materialized in the Netherlands," Frans Timmermans reckoned. The former European Commission Vice President spoke to Euronews' Fernande van Tets after the exit pol last night, and was in bullish mood, following the results. "The West is waking up, and you see parties like mine growing in popularity all over the European Union. The people are waking up, and I hope they stay awake," he said.

You can read more here.

Another day, another round of ballots in the EU elections! I'm Romane Armangau, and today our focus shifts to Ireland and Czechia as they cast their votes for the European Parliament. Euronews journalists across Europe bring you the latest updates, insights, and reactions!

That's it for today, folks! For those of you who have been with me all evening, thank you for staying until the exit poll. For the newcomers, let's wrap up the day so you're ready to join us tomorrow.  

• Polling stations opened at 7:30 this morning for the approximately 13.3 million eligible voters in the Netherlands.  
• Voter turnout has increased by 5% from 2019 to 2024, with 47% of Dutch people going to the polls on Thursday. 
• At least three Dutch parties said their websites were hit by cyberattacks, which were later claimed by a pro-Russian hacking group. 
• Wilders' PVV party was the biggest gainer of the night, going from one seat to seven - which was not enough to beat the Green-Socialist coalition, which got eight.  

My colleagues Romane Armangau and Gerardo Fortuna will be with you tomorrow to talk about the next member states to go to the polls: Ireland and Czechia. Good night!

However, the former European Commission vice-president for the Green Deal could not resist the opportunity to relish the success of his party this time around.

The final exit poll in the Netherlands' European election showed two big winners: the Green-Socialist coalition (8 seats) and the far-right PVV (7 seats). 

The third force is the VVD party (4 seats), which could be expelled from the EU Liberals group, where D66 (3 seats) is also included - Renew Europe will vote on this on 10 June. 

As a novelty, the pro-European Volt party, which had only one German MEP in the last mandate, got a Dutch MEP for the first time (if the results are confirmed on Sunday), while the far-right FvD party, which had four seats, got none. 

The exit poll produced by national broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) gauged voting intentions and should provide an accurate indicator of the actual result, but caveats apply since it is not based on counted votes. 

The final results will have to wait until THE election night, on Sunday, where a first projection of the next European Parliament will be revealed.  

Source: NOS

The first exit poll is out!  

The joint list of Greens and Socialists (GroenLinks-PvdA) is the current winner of this election with eight seats, closely followed by Wilder's PVV, which has jumped from one to seven MEPs in five years. The Greens/Socialists tally is in line with forecasts, but Wilders had been tipped to bag nine seats.

The last exit poll is expected at 21:30. Stay tuned! 

Back to that Portuguese visit of Ursula von der Leyen to Portugal, where after beginning speaking at an AD rally in the centre of Porto, around 20 protesters interrupted her with shouts of ‘Free Palestine’, demonstrating against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, with their hands painted red.

Von der Leyen tried to continue her speech, but attention at the rally was centred on the demonstrators, who eventually left the venue accompanied by police.

 ‘If you were in Moscow, you'd be in prison right now,’ commented Ursula von der Leyen, comparing the protest to the war in Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion.

Em direto/ Von der Leyen trunfo de Montenegro no Porto. Discurso da presidente da Comissão Europeia interrompido por protestos pró-Palestina

Montenegro com Von der Leyen no Porto a apelar ao voto: “Não podemos dormir à sombra da bananeira”. Rui Rio critica timing das buscas no caso das gémeas.

Ursula von der Leyen, the EPP's top candidate for the elections and current Commission president, is touring Europe in the last days before the elections close to drum up some extra support.  

The German was received in Porto today by Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, whose government's work she praised.  

"From housing to healthcare and NextGenEU [post-pandemic funds], your government has set important work in motion," von der Leyen shared on her campaign's X account. "With you, Portugal is in good hands," the post continued. 

Just before the elections, the Portuguese government tightened its migration rules, ending an exceptional regime that allowed foreigners to enter Portugal and then apply for a residence permit. 

The final turnout figures before the polls close are in, and it's currently standing at 37%. This is 3% higher than in previous elections - will this trend continue? I'll keep you posted after 9 pm.

I'm not the only one here till the end: the Dutch Socialists and Greens are keeping busy right to the last minute and have even set up a WhatsApp chat in case voters have any doubts.  

Meanwhile, the X account of PVV frontrunner Sebastiaan Stöteler is set to automatic posting pictures of people voting for him - what more do you need on election day, right? 

Wilders' far-right party, the PVV, failed to win more than one seat in the 2019 European Parliament elections. Now it could win eight.  

Fearing a similar rise across the EU, women's lobby groups are concerned that men could dominate key decision-making committees during the next mandate, Euronews reported.  

So far, the EU institution is the most equal parliament in the bloc, with 280 women out of 705 MEPs - but lobby groups fear this could change in the next legislature if more far-right politicians are elected.  

Here's a look at the current composition of the parliament: 

Things work differently in each member state, and in the Netherlands in particular, parties have to reach a minimum threshold of 3% to secure a seat in the European Parliament. 

According to the latest Euronews polls, six parties are estimated to win between 2.4% and 3.5% of the national vote - a scenario that could benefit the largest parties. 

Dutch voters are on the move! By 5.45 pm, almost 30% of the population had already voted. This is 5% more than in previous elections.   

The highest turnout dates back to the beginnings of the European Parliament (1979), when almost six out of ten Dutch citizens went to the polls.   

The European Parliament has warned against last-minute social media campaigns discouraging people from voting in the EU elections, which officially began today and will last until Sunday evening.  

Tech reporters Cynthia Kroet and Romane Armangau have looked at some of the examples circulating online across Europe. Have a look here! 

My colleague Mared Gwyn Jones brings you all the details on Thursday's cyberattacks.

Once again, the French EU Commissioner for the single market, Thierry Breton, has released a Spotify playlist, this time on today's trending topic: EU elections! 🗳️  

Apart from the clear message (#UseYourVote), the French liberal seems to be sending a warning about false promises and a populist queen... Can you read between the lines? 

The liberals of Renew Europe have so far been part of a grand coalition with the European People's Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and the Greens/EFA - but that balance is expected to change, with the parliament likely to shift to the right, at the expense of the EU liberals and the greens.

By 3:45 pm, 23% of voters had already cast their ballots, including the Greens' lead candidate, Bas Eickhout. The next estimates from Ipsos will come after 5:45 pm.

The pro-Russian group Hacknet is bragging on social media about being behind the poorly accessible or inaccessible websites of several Dutch parties, including FvD, CDA and Wilders' PVV.  

"For Russophobia and double standards of European authorities, the internet infrastructure of Europe will suffer from Russian hackers," they wrote this morning, saying they were coordinating a joint attack to coincide with the European elections.  

EU agencies are now also among alleged victims of the pro-Russian hacking group, as the website of the European Court of Auditors is currently inaccessible.

In a statement to Euronews, a spokesperson from the court said: "We confirm that since this morning, we are experiencing a cyber-attack (DDoS) which has rendered our internet site non-operational."

"We are actively working to mitigate the issue," the statement added. 

HackNeT

В рамках нашей совместной атаки приуроченной к выборам в Европарламент кладем сайты, относящиеся к интернет-инфраструктуре Евросоюза: ❌Реестр отслеживания EBSI…

With just six hours to go before the polls close in the Netherlands, the CDA, PVV and FvD parties have reported cyber attacks.  

The CDA's website was temporarily less accessible this morning due to DDoS attacks, the centre-right party said.  

"On election day, we see this as an attack on free, democratic elections," the CDA wrote on X, adding that the attack had been reported to the authorities.  

Thierry Baudet, leader of the far-right Forum voor Democratie (FvD), warned of similar attacks on social media, adding that "the whole team is working overtime to repel the attack". 

Hello Europe! I'm Paula Soler, EU policy reporter in Brussels, and I'll be with you for the rest of our first election day. Expect the Dutch exit polls around 9pm - but likely without a spectacular turnout.  

At 1:45 pm, the national turnout was 15%, compared to 14% at the same time in 2019.  

In the last elections, 42% of voters went to the polls in the Netherlands, compared to the EU average of 51%.  

Eastern Europe traditionally holds the record for lowest turnout in parliamentary elections - in Slovakia, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia - while the highest turnout was recorded in Belgium, Luxembourg and Malta: not too surprising, given that voting is compulsory in the first two.  

In a statement on social media platform X, the Dutch CDA party - which is affiliated to the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) - claimed it had been targeted in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

"On Election Day, we consider this an attack on free, democratic elections. We report this to the relevant authorities. Our website is now available again," the party said in its statement.

Our journalists provide insights on what's at stake in the European elections, from defence to the green deal and migration pact.

Check out these insights by Jack Schickler, Finance correspondent, Méabh McMahon, EU affairs correspondent, Shona Murray, Europe correspondent and Robert Hodgson, environment and energy correspondent 👇🏽

EU elections: What are the biggest issues at stake?

Our journalists provide insights into the stakes of the upcoming European elections, covering issues ranging from defence to the green deal and migration pact.…

A total of 95,226 votes had been cast in Estonia's European Parliament elections as of Thursday morning, according to the state electoral service (VVK).

By region and split of the eligible voters:

Tallin — 14.4%

Tartu — 14.5%

Harju County — 11%

Võru County — 6.2%

As of 10.30am, 7% of eligible Dutch had already pitched their votes, according to IPSOS, reflecting the same rate of voting as during the 2019 European Parliament elections, for which final turnout at day's end was 42%.

Here is the split by towns as of 10.30am according to IPSOS:

Utrecht — 11.8%

Nijmegen — 9.7%

Groningen — 9.5%

Eindhoven — 8.3%

The Hague — 8%

Rotterdam —7.1 %

A further turnout split result is expected just before 2pm

Nearly 300,000 Russians living in Estonia are actively participating in these European elections.

Euronews spoke with Russians living in Estonia who are eligible to vote about their priorities and challenges for the upcoming poll.

Touted as the most advanced digital society in the world, Estonia opened electronic voting on June 3 for the 1.4 million living in the Baltic state. Voters can cast also their votes in person - once the physical polls open this Sunday - at any polling station across Estonia, as the elections are conducted in a single nationwide electoral district.

But digital finesse alone does not appear any greater draw to encourage voters... during the 2019 elections voter turnout stood at 37.6%, according to official data.

Relatively unknown among the Dutch, Sebastiaan Stöteler is leading the electoral list of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), and is all but guaranteed to secure a seat in the European Parliament.

PVV currently has no lawmakers in Brussels but is on track to win nine seats according to opinion polls, buoyed by its surprise victory in last November's Dutch general election.

Despite being the party's number one pick, Stöteler has kept a low profile in the weeks and months leading up to the vote, with the party's leader Geert Wilders fronting the PVV's electoral campaign.

What is the mood in the European capitals amid the elections?

Are EU citizens engaged in the European political debate?

What are the main polarising issues?

Radio Schuman criss-crossed European capitals with our correspondents in Amsterdam, Rome, Madrid, Berlin, and Paris, who gave us a flavour of the atmosphere and local mood.

European elections kick-off and summer beach clean-up

Radio Schuman is your new go-to podcast to spice up your weekday mornings with relevant news, insights, and behind-the-scenes stories from Brussels and beyond

Will the recently formed right-wing Dutch government stand solid?

VVD, the party of former prime minister Mark Rutte is currently in a four-way coalition agreement with Geert Wilders' PVV (Party for Freedom), the centre-right New Social Contract (NSC), and the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), following general elections held in November and protracted negotiations.

But Valérie Hayer, the leader of Renew Europe, the liberals sitting in the European Parliament, has said VVD's membership of the centrist group will be put to a vote following EU-wide elections because it agreed to forge a coalition with the far-right party.

Check Alice Tidey's story on Hayer's position 👇🏽 

Renew Europe will vote to expel Dutch VVD on June 10, group chief says

The Dutch centrist party’s decision to enter a four-way coalition with a far-right faction is unacceptable for the group’s leadership. #EuropeNews

An IPSOS survey commissioned by Euronews projects the far-right Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament to secure 18 of the 31 seats allocated to the Netherlands, while the Greens and Renew are projected to win seven seats each.

The Netherlands kicked-off the voting season with polls opening at 7.30am and closing at 20.00pm today. 🇳🇱

If you're wondering about Dutch sentiment, opinion polls suggest potential dominance by the far-right .

Reminder 👉🏽 the Dutch cast their votes in a general election in November and their government — a four-way right-wing coalition — is currently still pending formal approval.

Between the 6th and 9th of June, roughly 373 million Europeans will be called to the ballot box to elect 720 new members to the European Parliament, aka MEPs in the tiny Brussels bubble. 🇪🇺

Polls suggest traditional, centrist forces are under strain as voters flock to the far right.

Why does this matter?

Read my colleague's Mared Gwyn-Jones take to get a deeper insight of what's at stake for this election.

European elections: How the vote could disrupt the Brussels status quo

Opinion polls predict voters will veer to the right - and shift the balance of power in Brussels. #EuropeNews

Greetings from cloudy Brussels! 🇧🇪

Are you ready for the whirlpool of EU elections' news coming out within the coming four days? Grab your popcorn and join the Euronews mob! 🍿

After months of speculation about the future composition of the European Parliament over the coming five years, the European elections start today and our team at Euronews, based in Brussels and across many European capitals, will make sure you don't miss a single bit.

I'm Marta Pacheco, EU policy reporter from the Euronews Brussels newsroom live-blogging today and will be feeding you with the latest developments coming out from the ballots — today in the Netherlands and possibly a glimpse of what voters have been up to in Estonia, since the ballots are open since June 3 in the Baltic country.

Stay tuned with us for live updates, stories, analysis coming from Brussels and the European capitals until Monday!