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The European Union could face the “beginning of the end” in its current centralised form as a “populist surge” grips the continent, ex-Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has claimed.
Populist politicians have garnered significant traction across Europe, with Dutchman Geert Wilders becoming the latest figure to come out on top.
Wilders, who leads the Freedom Party, increased his number of MPs from 17 to 37 as centrist parties failed to retain support.
Opinion polls also suggest Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian President Viktor Orban could be in the ascendancy.
Italian Lega Nord (Northern League) Secretary, Matteo Salvini, Dutch far-right Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders and French far-right Front National (FN) party president Marine Le Pen
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Brussels is bracing for a crunch set of elections as polls to return MEPs to the European Parliament take place across the continent in June.
The parties are not expected to push as far as leaving the bloc but will look to battle Brussels’ overreach into national sovereignty.
Recent opinion polls suggest National Rally’s support is up 10 points and Brothers of Italy could return four times as many MEPs.
Nationalist MEPs from Poland, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Slovakia and Cyprus could also pose a problem in both Brussels and Strasbourg.
More than a third of all MEPs are predicted to be at the very least critical of the EU, up from around 25 per cent of non-UK MEPs returned a decade ago.
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A general view inside the European Parliament on May 11, 2016 in Strasbourg, France
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Around one-in-four MEPs are expected to firmly oppose Brussels and hold anti-migration views, up from 11 per cent in the previous decade.
Farage, who broke British electoral history by leading UKIP to victory in 2014, told The Daily Telegraph: “UKIP and the Brexit parties were ahead of their time.
“The populist surge that we are going to see in the European elections next spring will mark the beginning of the end of the EU in its current centralised form.
The 59-year-old also joked: “Gosh, I could have led a big group!”
Budapest’s Brussels’ basher Judit Varga also said: “What I’m fighting is the hypocrisy of the EU, the double standards of the EU.
Nigel FaragePA“And it’s not against, but it’s for the European future.”
Matteo Salvini, who serves as Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister, simply added: “A new Europe is possible.”
Polling aggregator website Europe Elects is suggesting the centre-right would currently lose three seats.
However, the total number of MEPs following post-Brexit changes has soared from 678 to 720.
The centre-left is also poised to suffer further setbacks from 154 to 142.
Rishi Sunak met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni in Rome this weekend for bilateral talks on migration
PA
Liberals could miss out and fall to fourth place as Europe Elects shows a fall from 108 to 92.
A total of 93 right-wing MEPs are expected to capitalise by returning to Brussels and Strasbourg, up from 80.
National conservatives are also expected to witness a boost from 62 to 81.
However, MEPs from the Green and left factions could miss out as their contingent returns depleted.
Current polling suggests Eurosceptic-leaning parties will be the largest, or joint largest, in 10 of the 27 EU member states.
Marine Le Pen, leader of French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) party and candidate for the 2022 French presidential election, attends an interview with Reuters
gbnews
Half of all MEPs returned from France, Italy, Cyprus and Hungary are expected to be from a Eurosceptic party.
Elizabeth Kuiper, associate director at the European Policy Centre think tank in Brussels, said: “Clearly the result of the recent Dutch elections should be a warning for the EU.”
“If more populist parties gain momentum there is a risk that EU countries will become more inward-looking, and positions will shift due to changes in government.
“Clearly the mobilisation of voters expressing political discontent needs to be addressed at the EU level in the years to come.”
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