This year’s European Parliament elections saw a rightward turn, but the effect that will have on the bloc’s policies might be less significant than its impact on the internal politics of the European Union’s individual member states.
Case in point: French President Emmanuel Macron called a snap parliamentary election in his country because his party did so poorly, and the notorious far-right German party AfD won more seats than German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats did.
The bloc’s rightward shift isn’t that surprising if you’ve been watching European politics closely. If anything, this weekend’s results highlight how the rightward shift has been going on longer — and in more complex ways — than can be exemplified by a few well-known extreme parties gaining seats in the Parliament.
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