BRUSSELS (EJP)—Several Jewish groups have expressed concern over the results of Sunday’s European elections which showed a significant surge in support for extreme-right and populist parties, fearing that that hate speech will now feature more prominently in European politics.
Following the vote in the 28 EU countries, of the 751 seats in th new European Parliament, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) won 214, followed by the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) with 189, while the extreme-right parties surged to win a combined 36 seats, giving them enough weight to influence debate and decision making in the EU body.
In particular, France’s National Front of Marine Le Pen won 25 seats, Hungary’s notorious anti-Semitic Jobbik party won four seats, Greece’s Golden Dawn, under criminal investigation and with several party leaders in prison, entered the European Parliament for the first time, with an expected three seats,Austria’s extreme-right FPÖ in Austria won four seats and the neo-Nazi NPD for the first time gained a seat in Germany.
EU leaders were due to meet Tuesday evening in Brussels for an ”informal” dinner, their first meeting after four days of balloting in the 28 countries.