Ursula von der Leyen, who is seeking a second five-year term as European Commission president, has voted and is urging her fellow commissioners to do the same.
Much is at stake for Germany’s center-right politician, as the European Parliament, based in Brussels and Strasbourg, will have the final say on whether she receives a coveted second term as European Commission president, one of the most powerful positions in European politics.
I voted 🗳️
Go to the polling station #Please vote
Let’s demonstrate the power of our democracy.
Let us make Europe, our common home, stronger than ever before. pic.twitter.com/rFBP7TW4qF
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen_epp) June 9, 2024
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Kate Connolly
In the southwestern German city of Karlsruhe, two members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party were reportedly attacked by masked men armed with baseball bats outside a cafe on Saturday. Authorities said three people suffered “minor injuries” and on Sunday they said five people had been arrested after the attack.
In Germany, 100,000 local and district elections are also being held in parallel with the European Parliament elections in several states.
The attack in Karlsruhe was the latest in a series of violent incidents against German politicians ahead of the European elections.
In Dresden, a Free Democratic Party (AfD) lawmaker was attacked by a man in the state parliament on Saturday, while in Schleswig-Holstein, a Social Democrat politician was hit by a firework thrown by a bystander at a rally. A far-left Left Party politician was also attacked and verbally abused in a supermarket in Thuringia.
These incidents, and many others, including the stabbing of AfD candidate Heinrich Koch in the southwestern city of Mannheim, have prompted calls for better protection for politicians and tougher penalties for those who attack them. The stabbing came less than a week after a 29-year-old police officer was stabbed to death by a 25-year-old Afghan man who was believed to have targeted the anti-Islam group Pax Europa. The officer died when he intervened to stop the attacker.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faser has vowed to fight the rise in violence against politicians following the attack last month on Social Democrat MEP Matthias Ecke, who was attacked and hospitalised during an election campaign.
Earlier, a 28-year-old woman putting up a Green Party poster was also attacked and injured. Former Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey was attacked from behind at an event in a Berlin library in May and hit with a bag containing an unidentified hard object.
My colleague Lisa O’Carroll is in Brussels, where people are working in full force to get the country into a third election.
Dress appropriately for the occasion pic.twitter.com/SV8L3Tr4Z0
— Lisa O’Carroll (@lisaocarroll) June 9, 2024
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has sought to underscore the importance of the elections and paint a clear picture of what he believes is at stake.
He told reporters:
It is our vote that will decide whether the future we are building in Europe, and consequently in Spain, is a future of progress or a future of regression.
It will decide whether we want a Europe that remains united in its response to the challenges and crises that lie ahead, or whether we choose a reactionary Europe of cutbacks, retreat and reversal.
That’s why I believe this is important: our vote will determine whether we want a Europe that moves forward or a Europe that moves backwards.”
What we decide is crucial for the future of Spain and Europe.
I am eager to take part, because this is a vote for a Europe that moves forward or a Europe that moves backwards.
Hello, with our vows, we decide. pic.twitter.com/AX3lDaMJNd
— Pedro Sanchez (@sanchezcastejon) June 9, 2024
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What we decide is crucial for the future of Spain and Europe.
I am eager to take part, because this is a vote for a Europe that moves forward or a Europe that moves backwards.
Hello, with our vows, we decide. pic.twitter.com/AX3lDaMJNd
— Pedro Sanchez (@sanchezcastejon) June 9, 2024
Up to 450 million people across the EU are being called to vote in the upcoming elections, including 16-year-olds in some countries.
This time, the right to vote has been expanded to young people, with Belgium and Germany now granting the vote to 16-year-olds, following on from Austria and Malta.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that “bad politicians are elected by good people who stay at home,” appearing to urge people to go vote.
Politics is primarily run by families, communities and countries.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) June 9, 2024
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Politics is primarily run by families, communities and countries.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) June 9, 2024
Lili Bayer
It’s 6:30 a.m. and the hallways of a school in central Budapest are quiet.
I walked into the room designated for my voting precinct and saw seven people sitting at a long table.
After my name was verified in a booklet with the voter list, I signed and received five ballots: one for the European Parliament elections and four for local elections, including for the mayor of Budapest.
In the European elections, attention is focused on a new party, Tisza, led by former government officials. Peter Magyar.
Magyar describes himself as a centrist who aims to challenge the ruling Fidesz party’s dominance in Hungarian politics. “We are building a country with no right or left, but only Hungarians,” he declared at a rally in the capital yesterday.
Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Fidesz party Viktor OrbánA survey released Friday by pollster Median showed Hungary’s Tisza party has the support of 50 percent of voters, compared with 27 percent for its counterpart in Hungary.
The chancellor, the EU’s most pro-Kremlin leader, has focused his election campaign on what he calls a “peace” policy.
The ruling party waged a fierce campaign alleging, without providing evidence, that there was a global conspiracy to push Hungary into direct war with Russia and that Hungary’s opposition was being led by Western countries.
A name was crossed out on the ballot for Budapest mayor. Alexandra SzentkiraiThe candidate of the ruling Fidesz party, he withdrew from the election on Friday to support another candidate. David Vitégé.
Vitality is challenging Gergely KaracsonyThe current Prime Minister, Abe, is supported by multiple opposition parties.
In Belgium, in addition to the European Parliament elections, national and local elections are also taking place today.
But the debate in Belgium is dominated by a referendum that is expected to see a surge in support for far-right parties that want to split the country.
Opinion polls predict a rise for the right in Flanders and for the left in the mainly French-speaking Wallonia, suggesting some terrifyingly complicated coalition negotiations in the coming weeks and months.
My colleague Lisa O’Carroll reports from Brussels:
In the first European Parliament elections since Britain left the EU, voters are being asked to elect 720 members to the world’s only directly elected supranational parliament.
This year’s election is closely watched because opinion polls predict big gains for far-right and anti-establishment parties, with far-reaching implications for the EU policy agenda.
My colleague in Brussels, Jennifer Rankin, has put together a primer on the election.
Millions expected to vote across Europe on final day of European Parliament elections
Good morning. It’s a wonderful Sunday. Today, 21 European countries are voting, including Italy, which is voting over two days.
The 21 countries voting today include the EU’s other three largest economies: Spain, Germany and France.
We will be following the action throughout the day and into the evening, but a fairly clear picture of Parliament is expected to emerge around 1am CET (midnight BST) on Monday, with the projected outcome expected to become clear in the early evening.
