Final Day of European Parliament Elections and Predictions on Its Results

The European Parliament elections conclude on Sunday, June 9, after four days of voting in EU member countries, including Germany and France. Reuters reports that predictions indicate the election results will likely shift the parliament towards the right, increasing the number of nationalist representatives opposed to the EU. The outcome of the European Parliament elections will be decisive for how the union, with a population of over 450 million, confronts challenges such as Russian aggression, intensified industrial competition with China and the U.S., climate change, and immigration. The immigration issue has become a central topic in several European countries' campaigns for the European Parliament elections. Voting began on Thursday in the Netherlands and continued on Friday and Saturday in several other member states. The elections will conclude on Sunday in France, Italy, Germany, Poland, and Spain. Polls have indicated that in this election, pro-EU liberals and greens are expected to lose some of their seats, resulting in the center-right and center-left also losing their majorities. Such a development would complicate efforts to implement new EU laws or increase European integration. In this extensive election, European voters in 27 EU member countries must elect 720 representatives to the European Parliament for a five-year term. Meanwhile, far-right parties are seeking to gain more power due to rising living costs and severe dissatisfaction among farmers. Concurrently, the Israel-Gaza war and the Ukraine war also play a significant role in voters' minds. The European Parliament is the only EU institution directly elected by European citizens, playing a significant role in moderating the power of the EU's executive arm, the European Commission.