Ursula von der Leyen will face some challenges to secure another five-year term as European Commission president, but her chances appeared good after her European People's Party (EPP) strengthened its grip as the largest faction in the European Parliament in elections across the European Union’s 27 countries that culminated on June 9.
As far-right parties celebrated big gains, Von der Leyen, speaking in Berlin on June 10, cast the results in a positive light for the EPP, which will remain the largest bloc in the 720-member parliament. The initial results show it is possible to "withstand the pressure from the extremes," she said.
Despite the shift to the right, von der Leyen, a member of Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union, was among the main winners in the election. The 65-year-old saw the center-right EPP increase the number of seats it holds in the European Parliament as centrist forces maintained an overall majority in the legislative branch of the 27-member bloc located in Strasbourg.
"We won the European elections," von der Leyen told her grouping as the results were announced, crediting the EPP's record of delivering for the public and managing crises for giving it "the strength to have this good result."
She appeared in prime position to secure another term at the helm of the European Union’s executive, the European Commission, but she will have to get a majority of European Union national leaders to support her and shore up enough support in the new parliament.
As the new parliament takes shape, EU leaders are preparing for a summit on June 17 at which they are expected to have an initial discussion on the nomination before deciding whom to nominate at another summit held in Brussels on June 27-28.
Vassilis Ntousas, an analyst with the German Marshall Fund, said there’s no question about the gains of far-right parties in four days of voting.
“What we saw was some key high-profile wins for the far right, no question about it,” Ntousas told RFE/RL. “France is perhaps the most pronounced of those examples.”
SEE ALSO: Wider Europe Briefing: Unpacking The European Parliament Election ResultsThe far-right gains prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve parliament and announce new national elections immediately after his party’s losses to Marine Le Pen's National Rally were clear on June 9.
But Ntousas said the broader picture shows the far right had modest gains across the bloc and in some countries didn't do as well as preelection polling predicted. The centrist majority that has “really set the tone when it comes to EU policies has held,” he said.
On von der Leyen's chances to win reelection, Ntousas said the odds are with the incumbent, but it remains to be seen what effect the French parliamentary elections will have on the process.
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni more than doubled her party’s seats in the European Parliament.
"It is a resounding result," Meloni said on June 10 of the gains made by the far-right Brothers of Italy despite a historically low turnout of 49.69 percent.
"It is very important politically and also moving personally," she told Italy’s RTL radio, noting that elsewhere in Europe governing parties had suffered in the polls.
"Italy is going completely against the trend," she said.
Germany’s Alternative for Deutschland (AfD), which had been hounded by scandals, still rallied enough seats to sweep past the slumping Social Democrats of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Scholz said the gains far-right parties made are worrying and should not become normalized. He added that Germany's coalition parties cannot "go back to business as usual" to win voters back.
The AfD on June 10 said its top candidate, Maximilian Krah, will be excluded from the party's delegation at the European Parliament because of the scandals.
Krah has been accused of having suspicious links to Russia and China, and he touched off a furor by making comments minimizing the crimes of the Nazis. Krah will still enter parliament, but the AfD delegation will be led by Rene Aust. The scandals surrounding the AfD resulted in the party's expulsion from the far-right group within the European Parliament.