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| Established Parties Rocked by Anti-Europe Vote | Established Parties Rocked by Anti-Europe Vote |
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| LONDON — Members of the European political elite expressed alarm on Monday over the strong showing in European Parliament elections by nationalist and anti-immigrant parties skeptical about European integration, a development described by the French prime minister as an “earthquake.” | LONDON — Members of the European political elite expressed alarm on Monday over the strong showing in European Parliament elections by nationalist and anti-immigrant parties skeptical about European integration, a development described by the French prime minister as an “earthquake.” |
| In France, Britain and elsewhere, anti-immigrant parties opposed to the influence of the European Union emerged in the lead. In France, the National Front won 26 percent of the vote to defeat both the governing Socialists and the Union for a Popular Movement, the center-right party of former President Nicolas Sarkozy. In Britain, the triumph of the U.K. Independence Party, or UKIP, which won 28 percent of the vote, represented the first time since 1910 that a nationwide vote had not been won by either the Conservatives or Labour. | |
| “The people’s army of UKIP have spoken tonight and delivered just about the most extraordinary result that has been seen in British politics for 100 years,” said Nigel Farage, UKIP’s leader. | “The people’s army of UKIP have spoken tonight and delivered just about the most extraordinary result that has been seen in British politics for 100 years,” said Nigel Farage, UKIP’s leader. |
| Official results released overnight showed that populist parties strongly opposed to the European Union also trounced establishment forces in Denmark and Greece and did well in Austria and Sweden. The results, a stark challenge to champions of greater European integration, left mainstream political leaders stunned. | Official results released overnight showed that populist parties strongly opposed to the European Union also trounced establishment forces in Denmark and Greece and did well in Austria and Sweden. The results, a stark challenge to champions of greater European integration, left mainstream political leaders stunned. |
| The radical left-wing Syriza coalition in Greece beat the party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, while Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi outfit that the Greek authorities have tried in vain to outlaw, also picked up seats, bringing Holocaust-deniers and belligerent xenophobes into the European Parliament. | The radical left-wing Syriza coalition in Greece beat the party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, while Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi outfit that the Greek authorities have tried in vain to outlaw, also picked up seats, bringing Holocaust-deniers and belligerent xenophobes into the European Parliament. |
| With the political landscape redrawn across Europe, some politicians, notably Nick Clegg, the British deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, the junior coalition partner, faced calls from their own party members to quit. The Liberal Democrats finished fifth in Britain and lost nearly all their seats at the European Parliament. | With the political landscape redrawn across Europe, some politicians, notably Nick Clegg, the British deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, the junior coalition partner, faced calls from their own party members to quit. The Liberal Democrats finished fifth in Britain and lost nearly all their seats at the European Parliament. |
| In Spain, the two main parties failed for the first time to get a combined 50 percent of the votes. Such was the upheaval that Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the leader of the Socialist Party, announced on Monday that he would step down after failing to capitalize on Spain’s economic woes and record unemployment to beat the governing Popular Party. | In Spain, the two main parties failed for the first time to get a combined 50 percent of the votes. Such was the upheaval that Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the leader of the Socialist Party, announced on Monday that he would step down after failing to capitalize on Spain’s economic woes and record unemployment to beat the governing Popular Party. |
| The Socialists apparently lost votes to other left-leaning parties, as well as to new groups led by Podemos, or We Can, a movement that was formed only a few months ago to oppose austerity cuts and demand fairer wage distribution. | The Socialists apparently lost votes to other left-leaning parties, as well as to new groups led by Podemos, or We Can, a movement that was formed only a few months ago to oppose austerity cuts and demand fairer wage distribution. |
| Traditional parties sought to depict the ballot as a protest vote inspired by deep alienation among voters repelled by what they consider to be out-of-touch political elites at home and an arrogant European Union bureaucracy spreading its influence with no democratic mandate. | Traditional parties sought to depict the ballot as a protest vote inspired by deep alienation among voters repelled by what they consider to be out-of-touch political elites at home and an arrogant European Union bureaucracy spreading its influence with no democratic mandate. |
| In Paris, the victory by the National Front, led by Marine Le Pen, prompted Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, to acknowledge: “It’s an earthquake.” | In Paris, the victory by the National Front, led by Marine Le Pen, prompted Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, to acknowledge: “It’s an earthquake.” |
| “We are in a crisis of confidence,” Mr. Valls added. “Our country has for a long time been in an identity crisis, a crisis about France’s place in Europe, Europe’s place in our country.” | “We are in a crisis of confidence,” Mr. Valls added. “Our country has for a long time been in an identity crisis, a crisis about France’s place in Europe, Europe’s place in our country.” |
| President François Hollande of France called an emergency meeting of senior ministers after his Socialist Party finished a remote third. | President François Hollande of France called an emergency meeting of senior ministers after his Socialist Party finished a remote third. |
| The rise of the right had been widely forecast, but it nonetheless sent shock waves. In Germany, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed dismay over the French result and the fact that the extremist, anti-immigrant National Democratic Party of Germany, or N.P.D., which won 1 percent of the vote, had secured a seat. | The rise of the right had been widely forecast, but it nonetheless sent shock waves. In Germany, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed dismay over the French result and the fact that the extremist, anti-immigrant National Democratic Party of Germany, or N.P.D., which won 1 percent of the vote, had secured a seat. |
| “In some countries it won’t be as bad as had been feared, for example in the Netherlands, but France’s National Front is a severe signal, and it horrifies me that the N.P.D. from Germany will be represented in the Parliament,” Mr. Steinmeier said, according to Agence France-Presse. | “In some countries it won’t be as bad as had been feared, for example in the Netherlands, but France’s National Front is a severe signal, and it horrifies me that the N.P.D. from Germany will be represented in the Parliament,” Mr. Steinmeier said, according to Agence France-Presse. |
| In the German vote, traditional parties were clear winners, but a new Euroskeptic party, the Alternative for Germany, also took 7 percent of the vote, news reports said. | In the German vote, traditional parties were clear winners, but a new Euroskeptic party, the Alternative for Germany, also took 7 percent of the vote, news reports said. |
| José Manuel Barroso, the departing president of the European Commission, the executive branch of the 28-nation European Union, issued a statement on Monday urging a “truly democratic debate” to meet the concerns of “those who voted in protest or did not vote.” | José Manuel Barroso, the departing president of the European Commission, the executive branch of the 28-nation European Union, issued a statement on Monday urging a “truly democratic debate” to meet the concerns of “those who voted in protest or did not vote.” |
| European Parliament ballots often do not reflect voting patterns in national elections, which favor traditional parties. But in Britain, Mr. Farage, the U.K. Independence Party leader, depicted his triumph on Sunday as the harbinger of greater prominence in next year’s national elections, saying that his followers could hold the balance of power if neither the Conservatives nor Labour win an outright majority. | European Parliament ballots often do not reflect voting patterns in national elections, which favor traditional parties. But in Britain, Mr. Farage, the U.K. Independence Party leader, depicted his triumph on Sunday as the harbinger of greater prominence in next year’s national elections, saying that his followers could hold the balance of power if neither the Conservatives nor Labour win an outright majority. |
| “We will go on next year to a general election with a targeting strategy and I promise you this: You haven’t heard the last of us,” he said. | “We will go on next year to a general election with a targeting strategy and I promise you this: You haven’t heard the last of us,” he said. |
| In Poland, the political establishment was rocked by the surprisingly strong showing for Janusz Korwin-Mikke, 71, a far-right populist, whose New Right party won 7.6 percent of the vote, according to exit polls, which would yield four seats in the European Parliament. | |
| The number of seats representing each of the 28 nations of the European Union at the Parliament is allocated according to population. | |
| Mr. Korwin-Mikke advocates cutting taxes, and has said that there is little evidence that Hitler knew about the Holocaust. He has also expressed deeply misogynistic views, and says that he wants to turn the European Parliament building into a brothel. | |
| It was the first time Mr. Korwin-Mikke had won a seat at an election since 1991, when he was elected to the Polish Parliament and served for two years. This time, analysts said, his message had resonated with young people who had embraced voting for him as a protest against the status quo. | |
| A similar pattern of defiance emerged in Greece, where official results, based on a 20 percent sample of the national vote, showed the leftist Syriza ahead of the conservative New Democracy, which heads the coalition, by a 3.9 percentage point difference. | |
| In what promised to be the biggest surprise, the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn was seen as clinching third place with 9.3 percent of the vote. But political analysts said the stability of the coalition government did not seem to be threatened immediately. |