EU voters elect new Parliament

Voters in large numbers from Thursday through Sunday in 28 European Union countries elected a new shared Parliament. Results indicate that mainstream parties will hold onto their majority in the 751-seat assembly. But populist parties calling for more sovereignty from the EU, including some calling for tighter immigration controls made big gains.

In Italy, Interior Minister Matteo Savini’s League party came out on top, winning more than 30 percent of the vote. And in France, Marine Le Pen’s Nationally Rally party won narrowly over the centrist party of pro-EU President Emmanuel Macron.

Britain wasn’t supposed to take part in the EU parliamentary elections at all but had to organize a last-minute campaign after delaying its exit from the EU. The Brexit Party, led by anti-EU figurehead Nigel Farage, was the winner, taking 29 of the 73 British EU seats and almost a third of the vote. The strongly pro-EU Liberal Democrats took 20 percent of the vote and 16 seats. The ruling Conservatives came in fifth with just four seats, behind Labour with 10 and the environmentalist Greens with seven.