Unofficial results suggest Slovakia's ruling Social Democrats have won the EP vote with 25%, albeit with one less MEP. Seven other mainly centre-right parties appear to have won seats including two each to the Christian democrats and SDKU-DS, but none to an extremist party. Turnout reportedly fell to some 13%. ...
In some French cities polling stations will remain open until 8pm instead of 6pm, after interior minister Bertrand Cazeneuve asked local authorities to extend the voting time in order to boost turnout. The closing time of each French voting station can be found here . ...
Chris Riddell on Ukip's success in the local elections Continue reading... ...
A toxic combination of slow growth, deflation, weak banks and political unrest in the east still haunts the continent Brace yourself for the next phase in the eurozone crisis, due to come around any time soon. That might seem an odd thing to say. After all, Portugal has just emerged from its bailout programme; Greece has dipped its toe into the bond market; while Ireland's export-slanted economy is...
Independents scooped around quarter of the vote in Ireland's EU elections Friday, according to RTE exit polls. Governing Fine Gael and Labour received 22% and 6% respectively. Opposition Fianna Fail received 22%. Sinn Fein on 17% and the Greens on 6% were the only parties to gain since 2009. ...
"It would be good if at least 20% voted, surpassing the country's sad record from past elections," Slovak PM Fico said Saturday, EP vote day. He said he was among the first to vote at 7am to demonstrate the vote's importance. "The European Parliament is a significant institution," he added. ...
Slovakia's pro-business, eurosceptic SAS party is hoping for one EP seat after Saturday's vote, Jan Oravec, head of the list, said. Speaking after voting, he also expressed surprise over young people's disinterest in the EU campaign and said he doesn't expect turnout to be much higher than in 2009 (19.6%). ...
Irish voters on Friday gave a strong signal to the government that they have tired of austerity, reaching out to alternative parties in the local elections and on course to do the same for the EU vote. ...
The EU has urged Putin to let Ukraine choose a new leader, but its diplomats and people on the streets of Kiev are wary of his promise to "respect" what happens on Sunday. ...
Counting the M5S, Forza Italia, the Northern League and Brothers of Italy, about half of voters are expected to support eurosceptic parties. ...
Belgian and EU politicians have reacted with shock and anger to the news that three people were shot dead and one seriously injured in a shooting at the Jewish museum in Brussels. ...
The Czech Republic is heading for a record low turnout in the EU vote, with the electoral commission -by close of vote on Satursday- estimating that not even 20% of voters cast their ballot. If confirmed, it would be the worst ever election turnout in the history of the country. ...
Complaints about 'complicated' declaration with 'no purpose' as foreign residents of UK are turned away from polling stations EU citizens living in Britain have been stopped from voting after confusion over a series of registration forms. Prospective voters arrived at polling booths around the country on Thursday only to find that while they were able to vote in local elections, officials would not...
Poll also suggests that support for Nigel Farage may not survive into 2015, with 49% saying they might vote for different party More than half of Ukip's support in the European elections came from disenchanted Conservative voters, a poll commissioned by Lord Ashcroft has found . In a survey of over 4,000 people , just over half of Ukip voters said they had chosen the Conservatives in the 2010 general...
Nigel Farage's Ukip made its strongest performance in local elections in its twenty year history, raising expectations that the anti-EU party is poised to win Sunday's European elections. ...
The EU status of an independent Scotland is "likely to be complex" and the timescales "challenging", according to a report by the Scottish parliament's external relations committee. The Scottish government argues that Scotland would be able to re-negotiate its EU terms while still a member, which the UK government disputes. ...
EU-US trade talks are "making steady progress" negotiators said Friday following the completion of a fifth round of talks in Washington DC. Removing tariff barriers and harmonising regulation dominated the week's talks. However, the two sides are still divided on whether to include energy and financial services in a deal. ...
The local election results show that Nigel Farage's party is a force to be reckoned with, and the two-party system in crisis Over the past week or so in the wake of Nigel Farage's supposedly disastrous LBC interview and as politicians and pundits queued up to accuse his party of being racist something interesting began to emerge. It was almost as unpleasant as some of the views of the Ukip leader and...
Does it matter that Ukip only has one policy? Probably not its leader is the man of the moment All my life I have been watching out warily for a first glimpse of what Americans call "the man on the white horse", the self-appointed saviour of his country with a simplistic line of plausible patter which usually ends up with a lot of dead voters. Watching Nigel Farage enjoying his overnight...
Greek neo-Nazi party drops strong-arm tactics and fields middle-class candidates to broaden its appeal to voters The Greek Neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn is softening its image and tempering its rhetoric before Sunday's European elections. Replacing boots with suits, the party has sought to shed its menacing persona, fielding middle-class professionals in an effort to broaden its appeal. Among its 42 candidates...