Migration and Trump on the menu as EU candidates face off

The leading candidates in the European Union elections grappled with the thorny issue of migration, rising nationalism and even testy ties with U.S. President Donald Trump in a largely drama-free debate Wednesday barely a week before May 23-26 polls.

Quizzed by three European journalists over 90 minutes, the six candidates for Jean-Claude Juncker's post as president of the EU's powerful executive arm also tackled youth unemployment, taxes and climate change in a debate among six mainstream party candidates that was conducted almost exclusively in English despite their different nationalities.

Some 400 million people are eligible next week to choose members of the European Parliament, which is the EU's only democratically elected institution. Turnout is usually low, and those who do cast ballots routinely vote in protest against the policies of national governments.