Internationalists, moderates and liberals were shocked by the results of the elections to the European Parliament announced on May 25-26. Extremist parties made gains at the expense of long-established centrist parties.

In Britain, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) topped the poll and won 24 seats against 20 for the opposition Labour Party and 19 for he Conservative Party. The Liberal Democrats suffered a crushing defeat, winning only a single seat while the Green Party won two.

In France the right-wing crypto-fascist National Front led by Marine Le Pen also won 24 seats putting the Socialist Party led by President Francoise Hollande into third place.