Dramatic gains for far-right parties in France and Germany failed to overturn the centrist working majority in the European Parliament as results poured in on Sunday night, putting Ursula von der Leyen on track to stay president of the European Commission until 2029, APA reports citing DW.
"We won the European elections. We are by far the strongest party. We are the anchor of stability," the German conservative declared to journalists assembled in the European Parliament in Brussels as projections rolled in. "The center is holding."
Her center-right European People's Party (EPP) group has won 184 of the 720 seats, according to provisional projections from all 27 EU countries. In second place came the slightly weakened center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, with 139 lawmakers, followed by drastically pared-back liberal Renew group with 80 seats.
"We will build a bastion against the extremes from the left and from the right," 65-year-old von der Leyen told EPP supporters at a separate event earlier in the night, in a nod to the center-left and liberal runners-up she will need to work with to continue to push her agenda forward.
After weeks of speculation about a far-right landslide, a series of stunning individual results for France's National Rally, the Freedom Party of Austria and the Alternative for Germany did not quite translate into an immediate shake-up of the EU political landscape.
But with more far-right members sitting in the legislature than ever before, their voices will have to be heeded going forward.
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