Turnout up in Slovakia, with pro-EU liberals scoring high
EU election turnout has jumped up in Slovakia, where liberals did well on Saturday. But nationalists also scored highly in Slovakia and Latvia, leaks indicate.
News in Brief
- Former EU climate chief cheered by 40,000 activists in Denmark
- UK's May announces June 7 resignation date
- Ireland votes for EU election and divorce referendum
- Report: May to announce resignation plan on Friday
- Leading politicians: time for EU to have female leaders
- Poll: Finland's Green party to surge in EU elections
- High demand for postal voting in Denmark
- Some EU citizens turned away at UK polling stations
Key details on how Europeans will vote
It's one of the biggest democratic exercises in the world with over 400 million eligible voters. National rules apply, and national parties run, but the stakes are at European level.
Magazine
All about the European Parliament elections 2019
EUobserver's new magazine is meant to help readers prepare for the European Parliament elections, no matter their level of knowledge. You can download and read the entire magazine now.
Thunberg: We can still fix climate, but must start today
Strong appeals from Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and former EU commissioner Connie Hedegaard to take climate to heart when voting in Sunday's European elections.
Belgium votes in hybrid EU-national election
Belgians will be electing MPs to six parliaments, on top of the European Parliament, with Greens expected to fare well at both the federal and regional levels.
Irish greens take Dublin in second EU exit poll
Ireland's Green party scored high in EU elections on Friday, in the second pro-European exit poll in the 2019 vote.
Agenda
EU election results to trigger top jobs scramble This WEEK
After EU citizens go to the polls over the weekend, the political haggling over key EU positions starts immediately next week. And the parliament and member states seem set to clash.
EUobserved
Don't tell the Dutch - but Timmermans 'won'
The victory of the Dutch EU commissioner is news across the EU, yet the Netherlands is not allowed to publish the official result until Sunday evening.
EU says goodbye to May with 'respect'
EU leaders praised Theresa May's commitment to deliver an orderly Brexit - while they now brace themselves for an even more eurosceptic British prime minister.
Strache scandal: how big a hit will Austrian far-right take?
This is a political crisis unprecedented in Austria since the war: the resignation of the vice-chancellor, firing of the interior minister, the mass resignation of FPO ministers, a snap election, and a no-confidence vote in the Austrian parliament on Monday.
Feature
Italy train row exposes competing views of EU
A planned high-speed railway connection through the Alps between Italy and France has been highly controversial for decades and is pitting governing Italian coalition parties against each other. But the European Commission insists it must go ahead.
Dutch socialists on top in first EP election exit poll
Dutch socialist Frans Timmermans looks like the big winner in the first exit poll from the 2019 European Parliament election. British voters also cast their ballots amid predictions their prime minister is about to fall.
No usage data kept for EU parliament's 'Citizens' App'
A mobile app aimed at informing citizens about the EU has so far been downloaded some 80,000 times. However, no data is kept on how often users opened the app after downloading it.
Opinion
EU sanctions regime cannot be an 'EU Magnitsky Act'
The debate about the choice of name should not boil down to a political muscle show against Hungary, which opposes the reference to Magnitsky because of its political relations with the Russian government.
Polling booths open in UK's limbo EU election
Polling booths have opened in the UK for EU elections, with voters not knowing if Brexit will happen, if they have a prime minister, or caring that much who their MEPs will be.
Dutch PM puts EU exit on agenda with election gamble
Dutch voters are not interested in a 'Nexit', according to polls, but prime minister Mark Rutte warned against a Dutch EU exit on the night before the EU elections at a debate with a new anti-EU kid on the block.
Exclusive
EU development aid used to put European police in Senegal
An Austrian criminal intelligence service persuaded Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini to set up a unit in Sicily against migrant smuggling, while in Senegal EU development money is financing an European-police led reform of Dakar's defence and interior ministries.
Stakeholders' Highlights
- Cast your vote for your favourite EUSEW Award finalist. You choose the winner of 2019 Citizen’s Award.
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- Child rights organisations encourage candidates for EU elections to become Child Rights Champions
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- New campaign: spot, capture and share Traces of North
- Leading Nordic candidates go head-to-head in EU election debate
- New Secretary General: Nordic co-operation must benefit everybody
- MEP Kati Piri: “Our red line on Turkey has been crossed”
- 2018 deadliest year yet for children in Syria as war enters 9th year
Latest News
- Thunberg: We can still fix climate, but must start today
- Turnout up in Slovakia, with pro-EU liberals scoring high
- Belgium votes in hybrid EU-national election
- Irish greens take Dublin in second EU exit poll
- EU election results to trigger top jobs scramble This WEEK
- Don't tell the Dutch - but Timmermans 'won'
- EU says goodbye to May with 'respect'
- Strache scandal: how big a hit will Austrian far-right take?
Analysis
EU should stop an insane US-Iran war
"If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!", US president Donald Trump tweeted on Monday (20 May).
EU faces moment of truth at midnight on Sunday
Voters in the world's second-biggest election, the European Parliament ballot, will know before midnight on Sunday to what extent a foretold far-right surge has come to be.
Dutch MPs: EU sanctions should bear Magnitsky name
The Dutch government must "make every effort" that new EU sanctions on human-rights abusers will be named after Russian activist Sergei Magnitsky, Dutch MPs have said.
Far-right hate speech flooded Facebook ahead of EU vote
Shady Facebook users have been promoting far-right views ahead of the EU elections, sometimes using graphic images of sex and violence, an investigation has found.
Opinion
Voter turnout will decide Europe's fate
European voter turnout is in deep crisis. Since the early 2000s, the share of voters in national elections has fallen to 66 percent on average, which means that the birthplace of democracy now ranks below average globally.
Happy young Finns don't vote in EU elections
In Finland, only 10 percent of 18-24-year-olds voted at the previous EU elections in 2014. General satisfaction with the status quo of the EU membership could explain why youngsters do not feel like they need to vote.
MEPs' #MeToo pledge - only 12 EPP sign up
Leading centre-right figures like Manfred Weber and Antonio Tajani are among the very few conservative candidates to have signed the pledge, set up by female staff at the European Parliament.
Poland sends EU reform letter in heated election climate
The EU should give up powers to national parliaments in future, Poland has said, amid a battle on EU values and sexual mores in the run-up to European elections.
Interview
Populists 'could be the opposition parliament needs'
Dutch historian and writer Luuk van Middelaar argues populists could be the new opposition in the next European Parliament and a better reflection of EU public opinion - thus actually reinforcing the body's status.
Opinion
Can Tusk go home again?
The opposition may not be able to defeat the rulling PiS without him, but if Donald Tusk wants to go home again, he will first have to remember where he came from.
Feature
Salvini hosts anti-EU 'summit', as old ghosts haunt party
Italy's far-right League called for a "historic" defeat of pro-EU forces at its event in Milan this weekend, but fiscal clashes, fascist symbols, and mafia links cast Salvini's party in a controversial light.
Opinion
Europe's far-right - united in diversity?
Europe's far-right is set to rise in the next European Parliament election. This vote will not yet allow the populists to build a majority. But it may become another milestone in their process of changing European politics.
Agenda
EU votes on future leaders This WEEK
The political spotlight switches from Brussels to national capitals and regions this week as Europe gears up for the start of European Parliament elections on Thursday
May to step down after fourth EU vote
British prime minister Theresa May has agreed to step down after her fourth attempt to pass an EU exit deal in June - no matter what the outcome.
Europol busts global cybercrime gang
A loose network of cyber criminals recruited from an online Russian forum managed to infect thousands of computers in an effort to steal online banking credentials. The gang has been dismantled, with some now on the run.
Opinion
The ECB Song Contest?
One can't help feeling that the race to succeed Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank has taken on the flavor of the upcoming final round of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Stakeholders' Highlights
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- Meet your defender: Rasul Jafarov leading human rights defender from Azerbaijan
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- Trial of Chechen prisoner of conscience and human rights activist Oyub Titiev continues.
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- Milestone for Nordic-Baltic e-ID
- EU bank urged to free itself from fossil fuels and take climate leadership
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- Turkey suffering from the lack of the rule of law
- Soft Drinks Europe welcomes Tim Brett as its new president
- Nordic ministers take the lead in combatting climate change
Stakeholders' Highlights
- European Parliament takes incoherent steps on climate in future EU investments
- Kyrgyz authorities have to immediately release human rights defender Azimjon Askarov
- Seminar on disability and user involvement
- International appetite for Nordic food policies
- New Nordic Innovation House in Hong Kong
- Nordic Region has chance to become world leader when it comes to start-ups
- Theresa May: “We will not be turning our backs on the Nordic region”
- Open letter to Emmanuel Macron ahead of Uzbek president's visit
- Raising key human rights concerns during visit of Turkmenistan's foreign minister
- State of the Nordic Region presented in Brussels
- The vital bioeconomy. New issue of “Sustainable Growth the Nordic Way” out now
- The Nordic gender effect goes international
