Far-Right Parties To Win Record Number of EU Parliament Seats
Far-right parties look set to win a record number of seats in the European Union parliamentary elections. Initial results show defeats for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, pushing Macron to take extreme action to dissolve the French parliament and call a general election.
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00:00 After three days of voting across the EU's 27 member states to elect a new parliament,
00:07 far-right parties are emerging as the winners.
00:10 "Europeans have cast their votes and the world's largest transnational democratic exercise
00:17 has now concluded."
00:21 Far-right parties have secured a stronghold in Italy and made major gains in Austria,
00:29 Germany and France, dealing blows to two of the bloc's leaders, German Chancellor Olaf
00:35 Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
00:38 The results have pushed Macron to dissolve the French parliament and call for snap legislative
00:44 elections later this month.
00:46 "I am dissolving the National Assembly tonight.
00:51 This decision is serious, heavy, but above all it is an act of confidence.
00:59 I believe in you, my fellow compatriots, in the ability of the French people to make the
01:03 right choice for themselves and for future generations."
01:08 The gamble comes just as Paris is gearing up to host the Olympics in July.
01:13 And the move could give the far-right anti-immigrant National Rally Party, who've just won record
01:19 high votes, a real shot at political power after years on the sidelines.
01:24 "Tonight, a wind of hope has risen over France and it's only just begun."
01:32 People in France are hoping Macron's gamble will be worth it.
01:35 "I hope the risks he takes will bear fruit and I really hope the National Assembly doesn't
01:41 pass."
01:42 "It's the fear of the rise of fascism in Europe, so the fear that it will continue
01:49 to spread, that violent people will feel more legitimate to act violently, to attack LGBT
02:00 people, racialized people, etc."
02:06 Not all far-right parties made headway in the EU.
02:09 In Belgium, Poland and Hungary, no extremist landslides.
02:13 But enough of a defeat in Belgium's tandem national vote to push Prime Minister Alexandre
02:19 Ducroix to resign.
02:21 And despite winning the most votes in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's far-right party
02:26 came out with the worst results in Orbán's 14-year rule.
02:32 Meanwhile, the transnational centre-right European People's Party has kept its lead
02:38 as the biggest group in EU Parliament, a result celebrated by Ursula von der Leyen, who's
02:44 seeking a second five-year term as head of the European Commission.
02:49 "Together with others, we will build a bastion against the extremes from the left and from
02:56 the right.
02:57 We will stop them, this is for sure."
03:01 But with a record number of seats going to far-right parties, the EU may be headed in
03:07 a new direction.
03:09 Meanwhile stakes remain high for the world's largest trading bloc amid mounting anti-immigration
03:14 sentiment, economic tensions with China and raging wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
03:21 Andy Hsueh and Joyce Zeng for Taiwan Plus.
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