Parties on both the far left and far right of the political spectrum have made large gains in elections to the European Parliament, according to preliminary results released on May 25. Fringe parties won as many as 160 out of 751 seats in the chamber, up from 98 in 2009. On the far right, France's National Front party and the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) each captured new seats, while Greece's Coalition of the Radical Left made gains alongside the country's far-right Golden Dawn.
From The Political Fringes To The European Parliament
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Marine Le Pen (center), the president of France's far-right National Front party, speaks after her party won 26 percent of the country's vote for members of the European Parliament, ahead of the governing Socialists and the center-right Union for a Popular Movement.
2
Nigel Farage (center), the leader of the right-wing United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), celebrates with his party's candidates after winning some 28 percent of the vote in Great Britain.
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Candidate Morten Messerschmidt of the far-right Danish People's Party (DPP) casts his vote in Ordrup, Denmark. The party which won the largest share of its country's vote.
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The head of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria, Heinz-Christian Strache (left), and fellow candidate Harald Vilimsky celebrate the preliminary results, which showed their party with some 20 percent of Austria's vote.
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Bernd Lucke, the chairman of the Alternative for Germany party, speaks in Berlin after the election. The party, which wants Germany to stop using the euro, was voted into the European Parliament for the first time.
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Greek parties on both the far left and far right made gains in the vote. Alexis Tsipras (left), the leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza), and candidate Rena Dourou celebrate with supporters in Athens.
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The far-right Golden Dawn party won around 10 percent of the vote in Greece, enabling it to enter the European Parliament for the first time. Here, Golden Dawn lawmaker Ilias Kasidiaris speaks at a pre-election rally. Six party leaders are currently in jail and other members are under investigation on charges of running a criminal organization.
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Gabor Vona (left), the chairman of Hungary's far-right Jobbik (Better) party, and party colleague Krisztina Morvay speak in Budapest. The party won some 15 percent of the vote.
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Former comedian Beppe Grillo of Italy's new Five Stars party, which took second place in the polls. The party has called for a referendum on withdrawing from the eurozone.