The European People’s Party won the European Parliament elections, gaining 185 seats, according to preliminary data.
“The European People’s Party is again the biggest group in the European Parliament. We won the elections. We are among the Democratic centre parties, the only one who increased the numbers of seats,” Manfred Weber, EPP President, claimed.
EPP’s lead candidate and current President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen promised that her party will stand against both far-right and far-left extremism.
“What citizens want is a Europe that delivers. Starting tomorrow, I will begin building a broad coalition for a strong Europe. Together with others, we will build a bastion against the extremes on the right and on the left,” von der Leyen said, according to AP.
She is also determined to stick to pro-Ukraine outlook and work with those who share it.
Those would be the other two pro-European parties ‘Socialists and Democrats’ and ‘Renew Europe’ with 137 and 80 MEPs respectively.
Previously, the leader of the EPP urged German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron to support EPP’s von der Leyen for 5 more years of the European Commision presidency. Both leaders’ parties lost in their countries to the far-right parties.