On June 9 this year, elections to the European Parliament were held in Poland, as in the rest of the European Union. With a rather low turnout (40 per cent), the results were not a big surprise.
The largest parties, the Civic Coalition and the Law and Justice, received very similar support: 37.06% to 36.16% for the Civic Coalition. The number of seats is also similar, 21 to 20 for the Civic Coalition.
However, compared to the previous European elections in 2019, this means a significant decrease in the number of Law and Justice seats from 27 to 20 and an increase for the Civic Coalition from 13 to 21 seats. As a European People’s Party member, the Civic Coalition will constitute the second most powerful national faction. Meanwhile, the Law and Justice party will constitute one of the strongest factions within the European Conservatives and Reformists.
The Polish Left recorded a spectacular defeat by introducing only three deputies to the European Parliament. Similarly, the Third Way party gained only three deputies, who will additionally enter various European parties.
According to the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, internal political disputes in Poland rather than pan-European trends influenced the victory of the Civic Coalition, which had only been in power for six months in Poland.
The loss of many seats and the non-entry into the European Parliament of many previously influential Law and Justice politicians may signal the imminent beginning of the disintegration of that political environment.
However, boredom with the policies of European bureaucrats and attempts to impose their will on Europeans in the form of the Green Deal or the immigration policy resulted in the success of the right-wing Confederation. The Confederation received 12.08% support and gained six deputies.
It is unclear to which European party they will join as they were not represented in the previous European Parliament. The Confederation seems to be waiting for negotiations by larger right-wing shareholders, especially after the spectacular success of Marine Le Pen’s party and Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy. However, one may have doubts about whether the Confederation will be willing to join the new conservative faction, together with the German AfD or Geert Wilders’ party, which has repeatedly presented an anti-Polish stance.
For now, the question remains open whether conservative and right-wing groups will agree to form a single faction in the European Parliament. Such a single, strong, and united faction could be the third or even the second largest faction, breaking the dictate of the left-liberal parties ruling the European Parliament and the European Union as such so far.
Comments