European Parliament elections turn into sociological survey

The elections to the European Parliament took place on May 23-26. 751 MPs participated in the elections in 28 countries of the European Union. Final results of the voting haven’t been set yet. However, according to a preliminary data, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) gets 179 seats. The second largest faction of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is going to have 150 seats. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe may get 107 seats and take the third place in the elections. The fourth place is probably taken by the Greens with 70 seats. European Conservatives and Reformists – 58 parliamentary seats.

Commenting on the elections to the European Parliament, the Deputy President of the Federation Council Committee for Foreign Affairs Andrey Klimov noted that two month before the voting, the European Parliament made another anti-Russian decision: “It is notable that it was made by a margin of just 28 votes. It means that many members of major parties which are absolutely not pro-Russian have felt an electoral shift. The changes in the European Parliament indicate that Russia can restore a constructive dialogue with it and the structures which will be elected by European MPs. I don’t speak about a serious breakthrough. However, a tone of the dialogue can change. There will be more certainty in the agenda. It means there will be more options for making rational decisions. It draws some optimism.”

According to Klimov, the elections to the European Parliament in each country turned out to be a sort of a sociological survey which shows an internal political situation inside the countries: “The majority of voters in France preferred Mrs. Le Pen who was thought to be a political outcast in our country (and other countries). Nevertheless, such politicians have formed a very large group in the European Parliament, which can be compared to the CDU group. This is the reality of today. We shouldn’t close eyes on it. However, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to fly into their arms because these people follow interests of their parties, political and financial groups, their states rather than interests of Moscow. At the same time, the majority of these interests coincide with the Russian Federation’s national interests. So we need a rational approach and effective and targeted actions.”