The European Game of Thrones

Winners and Losers

The long-relished and long-dreaded European Parliamentary elections are over and the composition of the new European Parliament is at long last known. The result is a mixed bag. The various anti-Europeans and populists were kept at bay, but the mainstream pro-European parties can also hardly be pleased with the outcome.

In his comment, Harold James takes stock of the results, trying to weed out who the winners and losers are and what the implications for European party politics will be in the coming years. A number of other analysts also look at the results of the elections in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and UK.

Read more: Game of EU Thrones: A New Political Order (May 29, 2019)
Red more: UK Election Results Reflect Europe's Growing Divide (May 28, 2019)
Read more: Poland's PiS Boosts Populist Hopes with EU Election Win (May 27, 2019)
Read more: In Hungary, 'Orban King but Not Kingmaker' (May 27, 2019)
Read more: 'Anti-System' Centrists Win Czech Hearts and Minds (May 27, 2019)

Optimists v Pessimists

A projection of seats at European Parliament is displayed in the hemicycle of European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET

For governments and citizens in the Western Balkans, which remain stuck outside the EU, the most important question will, of course, be what the European Parliament election results will mean for them, as well as their (already strained) hopes of advancing towards EU membership?

The result seems so mixed as to feed the hopes of optimists and the fear of pessimists. Vesko Garcevic argues that the outcome of the election will only make the Western Balkan's bleak accession outlook even...