August 5, 2024
European Art

Europe’s election: The art of listening


In a year of big elections worldwide, one of the biggest – with 27 countries voting for a new European Parliament June 6-9 – has just delivered a message similar to those of other recent contests: Voters want leaders to try harder to define a political center.

While right-wing parties made gains in the Continent-wide vote – even forcing a parliamentary election in France in a few weeks – the real story is how much politicians of both the left and the right have been listening to disillusioned voters across Europe, from angry farmers to young people fed up with established parties.

In Germany, for example, a centrist party founded just six months ago by a former leftist leader, Sahra Wagenknecht, won 6% of the vote for the 720-strong European Parliament. In Italy, the party of right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni did well but only after she moderated her views on migration, support for Ukraine, and the European Union. In France, the leader of the far-right National Rally, Marine Le Pen, has learned to accept the Eurocurrency.



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