Voters in the 27 European Union member states sent a stern warning to mainstream political powers, wreaking havoc on French and, to a lesser degree, German politics and rewarding hard-line nationalist parties in a number of countries.
Even so, the radical right-wing wave dreaded by the European political establishment did not fully materialize; the center of European Union politics held.
Here are the most important trends emerging from the elections.
Conservatives dominateThe mainstream center-right group, the European People’s Party, performed strongly and finished first, not only maintaining its dominance in the European Parliament but adding a few seats to boot.
It was a sign that its strategy over the past two years, to integrate more right-leaning policies in order to stop voters from abandoning for further-right rivals, delivered.
Organizations:
Union, European People’s Party