Latvia's EU suit grows – eight make up nine places
35 percent of Latvia's residents in the 18-29 age group have no plans to follow the EU election, according to a survey that the public service company LSM refers to. Interest is thus cooler than in the 60–74 age group, where 27 percent follow the development.
On election day, there are several media that raise the alarm that voter turnout may be low. The number of early votes is fewer than in 2019, when the election result landed at just over 30 percent, The Guardian reports.
Latvia is one of twelve countries that get more seats in the election year, as the European Parliament grows. Politico notes that this year it is about nine seats, and that there are eight parties in a fragmented political landscape chasing the seats.
Two parties – the centre-right party New Unity and the right-wing populist party National Alliance – look set to win two terms each.
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The EU's smallest country is on the move – in the wake of a major scandal
Roughly 330,000 Maltese residents cast their votes in the EU elections today, reports Malta Today. Prime Minister Robert Abela, who leads the center-left Labor party, has cast his vote this morning and thanked for what he believes has been a good election campaign with and for the residents.
- And now it's up to the people to choose.
The Conservative Nationalist Party's top candidate Roberta Metsola, also the President of the European Parliament, has also voted.
- I hope that democracy wins.
The election is mainly about the country's two largest parties and their candidates, but a third person has also created headlines, writes Politico. The former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was accused in the spring of money laundering in connection with the plans to privatize three state hospitals.
Malta is the smallest country in the Union and is one of three countries with only six seats in Parliament.
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Expert: The attempted murder seems to mobilize Fico's voters
Slovakia is holding EU elections just weeks after Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot. The assassination attempt has overshadowed the election campaign and sent shock waves through the country, writes Deutsche Welle.
When Fico spoke this week for the first time after the incident, the election was not specifically mentioned, but he attacked the Union and suggested that the assassination attempt was a consequence of his taking a line that does not correspond to what is otherwise consensus at the EU level. This applies, for example, to the Ukraine support, where Fico opposed military support to the country, AP writes.
Political scientist Soňa Szomolányi expects voters who sympathize with his Smer party to quit. On the opposing side is mainly the liberal and pro-Western party Progressive Slovakia.
Euronews writes that Slovakia is the country that had the worst participation in an EU election ever, with a paltry 13 percent turnout ten years ago. It increased to 22 percent in the last election in 2019.
Polling stations opened on Saturday morning and close at 10 p.m.
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The EU election|The electoral movement in Europe
Meloni rounded off election silence with cherries - the election has begun
The Italian front-runners have made a last push to win votes in the EU elections, which began at 3pm on Saturday. The first to break the election silence was Lega's party leader Matteo Salvini, who with a post on X divided two clear camps.
According to Salvini, one side consists of "technocrats", "friends of illegal migrants" and "eco-crazy people". The other side - which Lega stands on - wants to defend Italian homes and the country's culture, Salvini believes.
La Repubblica writes that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni managed to circumvent the election silence just before midnight on Saturday. The party leader and top candidate for the far-right Brothers of Italy then published a clip of her standing at a fruit stand, first telling the seller not to talk about the election campaign.
But then Meloni tasted a cherry and said: "Delicious, what kind is it?" whereupon the salesman turned over a sign with the Prime Minister's name on it.
Meloni is on the ballot but has no ambitions to actually take a seat in Brussels, writes AFP.
Italy is the EU Parliament's third largest country with 76 seats.'
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The EU election|The electoral movement in Europe
Orbán's rival brought tens of thousands of Hungarians to Heroes' Square
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's arch-rival, opposition politician Péter Magyar, drew tens of thousands of people to the iconic Heroes' Square in central Budapest on Saturday. Many carried Hungarian flags and placards criticizing Orbán, the day before the EU elections in the country.
Orbán is expected to get about half of the votes, against Magyar's 27 percent, writes AFP. The newcomer Magyar has stepped forward and become widely known after a government scandal earlier this year. In just a few months, he has managed to gather many Hungarians behind his message.
No matter how the election goes, we have already "defeated apathy," Magyar said in his speech.
- Together we can save Hungary! We are here, and we are ready to change our destiny!
Hungary has 21 seats in the EU Parliament, the same number as Sweden.
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Estonia googles about war – France about pensions
The Europeans' Google searches suggest that there are large differences in which issues the member states' voters prioritize in the EU elections, The Economist reports.
Voters in Estonia and Latvia, bordering Russia, are the ones who made the most war-related searches. Most searches about the climate have been made in countries with long coastlines, for example Denmark, Spain, Portugal and not least Malta.
And Romania and France, two countries where there are discussions about raising the retirement age, are more interested in that issue than others.
Both The Economist and Politico state that rising living costs are a concern in many countries. According to The Economist, it seems to particularly trouble the residents of Italy and Germany, while Politico describes it as a crucial issue in Belgium, Cyprus and Greece.
Marine Le Pen's right-wing nationalist party National Rally will be by far the largest party in the EU elections in France, according to Le Monde's last opinion poll before the election. A total of 32 percent intend to vote for the party.
At the same time, the cancerous growth of President Emmanuel Macron's liberal party Renaissance continues. The party backs down to 15 percent in the survey, which means that the Socialist Party is almost catching up with its 14.5 percent.
- We have never before seen such a small difference between these two, says Brice Teinturier at Ipsos, which has carried out the survey.
France, which with its 81 seats is the second largest in the EU Parliament after Germany, votes tomorrow.
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