Populists 'could be the opposition parliament needs'

The expected surge in populists and nationalists in the next European Parliament after this week's elections has spooked many.

It has fuelled speculation that the legislature could be paralysed if a third of the MEPs are fiercely eurosceptic and anti-EU, as some polling suggests.

The parliament's own projections put the number of nationalists and populists at 107 in the 751-seat legislature, plus another 66 eurosceptics.

Dutch historian and writer Luuk van Middelaar - whose...