BRUSSELS, June 10. /TASS/. "A candidate from European bureaucracy," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who scored a major victory at the election to the European Parliament, will continue the course toward the European Union’s centralization and militarization, Kirill Logvinov, Russia’s acting permanent representative to the bloc, told TASS.
"European Commission President von der Leyen can safely be called a major winner in the election, as she garnered mainstream support as a `single candidate from European bureaucracy’ and will now more likely secure her re-election," the Russian diplomat said.
According to Loginov, the political landscape at the EP remained largely unchanged. "Far-right parties saw a better representation, but they did not gain more ground," he emphasized.
"Actually, the sole goal being pursued is to strengthen the existing system which is not aimed at resolving problems facing the electorate, mostly migration, but rather at preserving the EU and US dominance in the global arena," he argued.
Election outcome
According to provisional results, that will not see any major change, the European People’s Party (EPP), of which von der Leyen is a member, won by a landslide as it grabbed 185 out of 720 EP seats against 177 in the ninth election held in 2019, when the bloc’s legislature comprised 705 MEPs.
Socialists with 137 mandates came in second, trouncing liberals, including French President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance, on 79.
Voter turnout at the election stood at 51%, a slight rise from the 2019 vote when 50.66% of voters took part.