the european people's party the biggest group taking $174.00 seats there we have the euro skeptic conservatives there with $62.00 seats and then we have the populists the f.t. they get $56.00 and the other half 59 seats the remaining 61 seats award on these projections go to smaller potties. let's go through those figures with our brussels bureau chief maxell hofmann now welcome match that there is these are the 1st figures from the 8 hue any surprise is that. not really phil i mean what we are seeing is the waning power of the centrist parties or the people's parties as you call them so your traditional social democrats here is traditional conservative parties that are losing votes and maybe even losing a little more votes than was expected especially in the case of the social democrats although they got some good results and now from spain so as always we

have to be careful with that and wait and see until the end. until we got the results from friends who might have been forgiven to think that the right wing populists weren't doing as well as many had predicted but now with this massive win for martin depends on someone though not in france they really have their victory there they're they're called you know that the flags of their victory out there and it seems that they will dead depending on how you categorize them well beyond 100 seats they will be able to make life a lot more complicated for the other factions in the parliament i think the most important thing we have to remind ourselves here is that it does not mean that the right wing populists will take over the power in the european parliament but it will be just more complicated for the already established parties so the liberals the greens the conservatives and the social democrats to form an alliance to form a majority up until now it was enough for the social democrats and the

conservatives to work together to get a majority that will no longer be in the imax stay with us ever because of course they have a lot of said bad comes out on top and also be critical who gets the most prominent job that's up for grabs in these elections our president of the european commission and so we'll take a look at the candidates now to replace a troll and a young guy who's been doing the job for the next for the last 5 years but it's not up. male action so let's say the people looking to replace her. i will do everything to defend this year i think we as greens take the battle i would propose. we have work to do migration is an opportunity we introduce minimum wage to every member state they are all running for the e.u. commission president margaret divest the liberals for the greens monthly to be about father conservatives funds to moments for the social democrats younes out

a deal is conservative reverend this candidate and. is for the party they are the 6 leading candidates but hang on a minute who are they and does anyone know anything about them do you know any of them. and do you know him. any idea. have you ever seen her. having. dutchman front man speak some language as he once more social justice german month will be by is calling for secure europe for example by european f.b.i. denmark's moderate best star is standing for self-confident and women's rights left wing equal could from budget is a trade unionist and the spiting for social rights the german scott kelly is promoting a european climate friendly future the czech republic's younes idealism fable the e.u. but once more sovereignty for individual nation states they are all committed to

the european union but what are the biggest challenges what solutions do they need to offer for the future the fragmentation between member states a lot of distrust which we have which has increased over the past years between member states also between national capital and brussels liberal moderate of a stogie and social democratic plans to moments are the only candidates who have already had. some experience as a minister is that an advantage of a job obviously it is an asset if you have had experiences at national level because in many cases the national political parties are not really supportive of their european and they're not pushing them they're rather pushing their own national candidate so you don't see visually that they exist but one man has definitely been in the spotlight on the european states michelle who could be the joke on the pack is not officially a candidate but he might just end up getting the job at the red regarded rex it

negotiator he enjoys the respect and trust of many hats of state and government and in the end that could be way more important than a load of t.v. debate. about. whether it was interesting in that report mock said most of us don't know who any of these people what difference would it make to any of our lives which are based people 6 a social club. i know what you mean i know what you're getting at but for me it would be to choose defense because we interviewed these people know all jokes aside of course it makes a difference the question is also how the new person in their position will interpret that role in the past you often have those that thought they were just the administrators of the decisions of the leaders many of the heads of state and government in the european union to give guidance to the european commission what what it should do and what it should not do so you have that role but ever since

you came in he defined the commission as a more political entity steering it in certain directions and you know the leaders don't go into those details they will tell the commission for example work out a proposal how we can fix the migration problem or how we can fix youth unemployment and if you have a socialist in the top job right there he most likely will apply more of the socialist programs. that he ran with or the socialist policies he's convinced of then somebody who comes from a conservative party so it's not such a huge difference as you may have between let's say a german chancellor that is social democrat or a conservative but it does make a difference in the yes myself and i didn't really brussels a bureau chief in brussels thanks so much. you're watching b.w. special coverage of the european election projections in france suggest a victory for many in the hands of far right party with 24 percent of the photo

that is ahead of president emanuel macro sense wrists who official one that in 22 and a half percent more people voted in france compared to about last year's your view of the. election success rate of the versus current one is unprecedented 52 percent . so that's france let's look at the projected results here in germany these are based on a partial vote count. conservative bloc the c.d.u. c.s.u. they take the top spot with a 28.6 percent yes pay day the coalition partners in the german government come in a 15.3 percent that's down 12 points now the environmentalist green party have had a good night they look to be taking 20.9 percent of the vote a 10.2 percent percentage point increase a populist alternative vote germany day at 10.8 percent and then free market to

f.t.p. look to take just over 5 percent the left party also just over 5 percent leaving 13.6 percent for other parties in germany in this european elections so once again these projections based on partial counts here in germany. another headline figure from germany and lots more people have taken part in this year's election day last 15 years ago voter turnout looks like being up by 10 points 61 and a half percent today compared with just under 50 percent in 2014. so it's been a good night for the german greens let's hear from the chairwoman of germany's green party ana laid out babcock gushy had this to say after projected results a show of big gains for her party divide this election was a climate protection election this election was an election fit democracy.

i meant to say human rights for a cosmopolitan euro i guess that's why the folks which are making us happy not just greens. that they are folks the climate protection act they all vote for democracy they are votes against populism they are votes the human rights in all of you are a dear friend signing on for i know. chief political adviser became a customer. see the you had quarters mckayla what's been the reaction to the results as we know the stage. yeah well having a few got technical problems. with. so we'll see if we can go back to her at

another point in proceedings let's move on and in fact tell you what we'll do is we will will have a look at a conversation that we had just a few moments ago with a man fred vapor he is the he's the leader of the european a people's part of the center right grouping and of a european parliament that lead man to succeed john claudio commissioner president here is talking to. a few moments ago. mr di vicki the big tent party is under pressure also the conservative c.d.u. in germany what do you take away from violent city you see is to ensure many of the biggest body after the elections we have still the right to call ourselves as a european party of germany and that's why we have the responsibility to lead now to go to brussels to go to strasburg and lead in the german interest but also in 0 being interested is what we want to do i'm the european candidate i have see

a whole european union in mind and that's why i'm waiting still for all the for the outcome on european level than the final result will be there on the table if the people arrive fest's the biggest political family then we have survived to lead in the european union and i want to invite all the others to join to sit together and find a common understanding for the next 5 years the right is so long alexa night you spoke about stability stability that you want to deliver how anxious i you about german stability right now is the lever that held the german question so i have to be discussed and decided to or in berlin that's not my main task i think everybody knows that we need a stable government in germany not only for the european interest but also for the german interest but the bigger thing is that we have a strong growing support for european democracies that makes me today really proud and and happy because people went through what would they participate if they used their right to vote to decide about the future of europe and that gives the

european parliament much more credibility in negativity for the future of the continent that's why the future discussion about content and about also seeing posts and they get the responsibilities and commissioning council are much more based now on the mandate in the european parliament i believe in this parliament the recession this democrat this asian of european union and that's why today is a great day because people voted by top candidate for the p.p. thank you very much isn't backing. down from favor it was talking to richard. who rejoins us from beijing i thought headquarters of the chancellor such as a c d you so hard. to go over of a project and results mccain a lot of people saying. well here clearly that is a bit of a sense of relief and much of that support we saw today around 28 percent a loss of about 7 percent was pretty much already factored into the expectations

that's how the polling was going as well and it was also concerned that the far right if the party foods gain significantly well it did in comparison to 2014 but it lost some almost 3 percent in comparison to general election results so that the conservatives see it through a bit of comfort from that so that that is not such a threat that the biggest threats clearly came from the green party who gained a lot of support particular months young people and there's a sense here that the conservatives missed the boat on a key issue on the back climate issue i just mentioned the fight is the future debates here and that actually was heightened by a huge huge attack by a you tube a very prominent here and the basic called on young people not to vote for the c.d.u. not to vote for the established policies and this is the pain the big tent posses to keep the c.d.u. is feeling tonight for now monthly baby is on his way to brussels and it everybody is kind of carefully optimistic that the conservative block could become strong

enough to at least be able to claim that 40 and say that should really be in pole position because that's by no means a given to become the next commission president on the word about the. domestic coalition partners they got the social democrats they seem significant losses that day is that worry about the stability of the coalition. well if you talk to people on the. because. you hear from the party secretary general policy now he said that quote isn't so definitely continue but it had a lot of what's to it lost a lot of time to 6 months to just form a government from the outset that really now is time to govern but the same time. the c.d.u. has seen its coalition partner the social democrats have a political nervous breakdown before it's been close to the brink for

a very long time is a very hot debate gets again a leadership change amongst the social democrats so there's still a lot of potential for this to this then leads to a destabilization 1st of the social democrats and then in effect of course. the conservative government here in germany but this is an early days and there's a lot of soul searching to be done in the big question is how stable all the democrats as a party right now often gets another dressing down and it is the words to find forward at the ballot box and. it's a chief political adviser had a customer they say the your party headquarters for now thank you so much. so let's take a look at the 1st project to figure regarding the number of seats each party group would have in the next to european parliament these are estimates and countries where polls are still open and projections where voting has ended and these the current groupings in the european parliament to our advantage any possible new far

right group and so with all of those coffee outs let's take a look left european union left nordic green block taking $46.00 states. yes indeed search will democrats $148.00 a green $68.00 the liberal group would have $79.00 seats sensorites you've been people's party still the biggest group looks like taking $173.00 seats that we have the euro skeptic conservatives the c.u. about 62. seems to bem the populace the f t v 57 states and the n f 59 say the reigning 59 seats would go to other smaller parties that could all still change across the next 12 or 14 hours or so let's go to brussels that would join bureau chief maxell hoffman going to take a closer look at those figures max. we are going to take

a closer look at those figures with a man that we like to talk to here in brussels because he just knows everything he's the only someone who lead is from the european policy center and he's the director of studies there so tell me honest what has you what has struck you the most so far about the results that we are getting over so well i think that a lot of the things we're seeing happening and the consequences of the results were rather on the in the cards already however you always have some surprises in individual member states where you thought at some parties might do better than they did but overall i think many of the results which were seeing confirm we were thinking beyond before the elections i think something which is a positive surprise seems to be the turnout the fact that you don't only have a verse of the trend of the past decades but it seems that you have a rather big reversal of the trend i think that's something which most people were not thinking that would that i would happen it looks like turnout is going to be

above 50 percent if it holds true the numbers right i have to see but you say no big surprises probably all adds up with the differences in the different countries so what's the picture you can paint for us right now of the future european parliament what is going to be a more fragmented european parliament with the 2 big parties the conservatives and the socialist losing a good number of their seats they won't be able to form a grand coalition as they did 5 years ago because they wouldn't have a majority to do so they will need a 3rd maybe a 4th party to form a coalition i think what we're going to be seeing is that this will be a very complex process putting together a compromise between all these parties with the specs of policy issues with there have big differences what does it mean for policy what i think that we will see in certain areas like for example climate change that want to have a green zone more that they were asking for a lot of concrete stuff to happen over the next 5 years and that will not only involve pressure in the european problem it also pressure on member states and if

you see the entire path. it's of the compromise that needs to be put together which also includes personnel issues leadership issues putting rats a complex compromise together will be a very cumbersome effort and might take longer than some of those had expected if you had to put 100000 euros you have to bet who's going to be the next commission president what would you bet be you know after those preliminary results i wouldn't risk it because we this situation today is much different than it was 5 years ago 5 years ago we knew there is a grand coalition we saw that shows in your goal we're standing next to each other giving support to each other saying that the one who had a relative a judge in the european parliament should become commission president this time the picture is much more complex i think that we will see not only a complex compromise with the specter policy issues but also with respect to the leadership in the future e.u. where the likelihood is high that none of the street some kind of that will in the end prevail and become commission president and is the money really will talk to

you later thank you very much pick your brains back to you phil max hoffman in brussels thank you so much. now that so i got a roundup of other news going on in the world outside your window rebecca. u.s. president donald trump has started a state visit to japan by taking off a round of golf with prime minister. says he wants to strike a deal with japan to address what he calls a trade imbalance between the 2 countries north korea's missile tests are also likely to be on the agenda and so far the visit has mostly focused on. a heavyweight fighter in a black leather jockstrap sizing up the opposition and throwing loses out of the ring i perhaps donald trump was going to get some ideas for his next move in his trade and diplomatic negotiations from the sumo wrestlers. but in fact this was all

part of a rich entertainment package that's been around or 2 with golf laid on for him by japan's shinzo abbé for the u.s. president's 4 day visit to japan. and a sushi meal with their wives too. but lying beneath the surface is the issue of trade between the 2 countries trump expressed his dissatisfaction about the trade deficit with japan almost as soon as he arrived in 2018 it was almost 60000000000 dollars mostly related to the auto industry. for both sides it's hard to reach an understanding at this time specifically in terms of automobiles the u.s. has announced a delay to its decision on whether to increase tariffs on cars and auto parts for 180 days so there won't be a conclusion any time soon. the u.s. is also hoping that its agricultural products will enter japan at a lower tariff but with japan's upcoming elections it's difficult for it to make

such concessions if they can't resolve the trade issues though at least the 2 go for can enjoy some time together. and take a quick now at some of the other stories making news around the world. there's been fresh fighting outside the disputed yemeni city of ties militias allied to the internationally recognized government fired on positions held by the rebels pro-government forces claim they're advancing but say at least 10 of they find his have been killed in recent days. fountains of kurdish prisoners in turkey have ended a mass hunger strike protesting against prison conditions for the kurdish leader abdulla salaam supporters celebrated the end of the strike the turkish government lifted a ban on lawyers visiting us along who is serving a life sentence. a series of explosions has killed at least 4 people in katmandu the capital of the pool police say an outlawed communist group is to blame

and maoist group has called for a general strike to pressure the government to release some of its members from detention. a powerful earthquake has struck more than peru a magnitude 8 quake in a remote area of the amazon jungle was felt around the country was also detected hundreds of kilometers away in the capital lima one person is reported to have been killed and several others injured. the family of a british war hero have traveled to remain in to visit the ammons grave near the village he saved stanley clock ditched his stricken plane into a lake to avoid the village the pilot was part of a task force sent to bone remaining oil fields in 1944. formula one racing now where lewis hamilton of a sadie's defended his pole position to win the monaco grand prix his win further increased his lead in the championship the reigning world champion bate out

sebastian vettel of ferrari who came in 2nd the 3rd place was hamilton's team mate fell terry about test finishing in 4th was max for stuff in a red bull and it was hamilton's 77th on prayer when. round up now back to our special election coverage with. rebecca thank you so much for gayle you're watching special coverage of the 29000 european actions that will be with you throughout the evening with rolling coverage of the results across the 28 member states 400000000 eligible voters say so that it's a big news so far up projections in france suggest a victory for marie in the pad so far right party with veterans and 4 percent of the vote that's ahead of president centrist party that took maybe $22.00 and a half percent more people voted in france this year the last european elections

it's sastre it's the voter turnout was unprecedented 52 percent. of poland next i will take a quick look that polls will be closing in the next few minutes the vote here will test the popularity of the ruling nationalist and you are skeptical and justice party opinion polls suggest that they would likely come head in the vote with a coalition of opposition parties is close behind they've been campaigning for a program european parliament supported by i don't know who's covered president of the european council. of. so let's join monica said scott who's a no war so the polish capital welcome to monica so is a big win a given for the ruling the law and justice party. try

to get monica there not sure if you can hear me above all that noise but that is the law and justice party expecting a big win today. ok clearly this is problematic we'll see if we go back to war so a little later in the program. let's try it's really rather the country where right from the populists we're expected to do well the micro party the league is already in government there alongside the populist a 5 star movement the links leader but i have salvaged it's at least interior minister he hopes that base election will allow the right wing parties to fs to forge a euro populist front to exert more power on a huge policy opinion polls ahead of the election at 31 percent in italy polls

close at 11 tonight so i will have to wait a few more hours for those results now let's go to milan and join d.w. correspondent thomas sparrow welcome to tell us. more than 30 percent of italian the voters recommend intended to vote for salbi nice populist lega unknown populist party is therefore in retreat in italy. they are certainly having problems in fact if you know the center left he did that's a party he had that into. 1014 in the previous election actually got the majority of votes in italy and won the european election italy 5 years ago it will not be the same this case judging by the surveys that we have seen the p.d. has suffered as other parties in in europe from what voters described as not being

in tune with their interests or not knowing exactly what voters want and it seems that voters have punished once again p.d. for that aspect and in turn many frustrated voters have gone to other parties one of them being where we are right now and then later headquarters and the man responsible for trying to get some of those votes is the man that you see the jaime in those posters there was a weenie who is the interior minister but he's also the leader of the labor party it's in a way all about him tonight and how much voters actually trust what he has proposed his stances against immigration in favor of nation states of nation states having a bigger role in the european politics identity having a bigger role in european politics and that is his main goal also european wide is not only for italy but it's also something that he wants to achieve by uniting populist forces across the continent whether he will succeed in that goal is still

a big question because not all populist parties around europe believe the same or have the same interests when it comes for example to russia or to the economy but at least not there was a goal here in milan is to try and forge some sort of alliance with other similar parties to try and build a big front european in the european front whether he will succeed as i say that is still a very big question ok so he's given me. right wingers across the block in order to achieve that but it's really specifically italy has had its problems with the commission over the last year or so a big win for. this government what would what sort of problems with that cause for brussels. well they have been 1st speculations about what a big win for later could mean for the governing coalition here that obviously doesn't depend only on the results that the labor gets it also depends on the

results that other parties get in particular the 5 star movement there are obviously speculations as well that a big result could mean that italy in a way could be in a way isolated in european politics if you look at the last few years italians have had some of the biggest and most important posts in europe the foreign affairs the . very need central european bank mario draghi the head of the european parliament to tie johnnie so some of the key european positions have been held by italians and what some people here here fear is that if the lady in fact gets a good results today those positions could turn to other countries because not many would want to work with a party like like delayed and delayed i would as well face some trouble in trying to unite forces with the populist parties that's at least what we've been hearing here in milan today but again it is still a bit too early we have to wait what exactly the vote is all about it would close at 11 o'clock as i mentioned so there's still a few hours to go before we actually know what exactly italian voters decided here

in italy today thomas sparrow thank you so much. you're watching special coverage of the european elections projections in france suggest a victory for bring the presence of far right parties with 24 percent for president about ourselves centrist party which took the took to heart isn't the presence of french a far right national rally is calling for the formation of a powerful group in the european parliament. as we were up to at this stage the coverage. continues after watch of but not more at the top of the out of the death.

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who still needs the e.u. . and journey across 4 member states. critics and advocates of the speak out job what are people expecting. how is the e.u. doing as the european election approaches to. close. 30 minutes on d w. you're a big idea but what's become of us and what looks like. today

the double takes an in-depth look at the public. the future lies ahead for the church community all the results in science and discussion. on election day. closely. listen carefully. simply. to get. discovered the most.

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i'm sorry so much got the welcome back to w. special coverage of the 2019 european elections we will be with you throughout the evening with rolling coverage of the results across the 2080 e.u. member states has over 400000000 eligible voters have their say we'll be bringing you the very latest of course let's go right to poland now because polling stations have closed their voter turnout reported to be especially high in the last election was about 25 percent it's being registered as much higher this time around now this vote is a crucial test for the ruling national's law and justice party led by. now the law and justice party is part of the euro skeptic group in the european parliament and that puts them at all odds with another polish leader of the european council president don altos who was a staunch supporter of european integration when he cast his vote today warned

against anti european trends in the e.u. . let's go right to our correspondent who's standing by in warsaw for us monica was there for us hi monica voting is over and the polling what can you tell us so far about the results and that the atmosphere there which seems very lively. is i didn't hear it. in the headquarter of the opposition the coalition of the so-called european coalition and right no we hear the 1st results of the 1st expose. so. the government and the day ahead again over 40 to. 42 percent and the european politicians sold the bundle of the opposition parties have more than 39 percent right now the. president of the. opposition all of this if it's not for the

biggest coalition party is. addressing the speech or for the crowd here and he's standing cabal to victoria because. they lend it is a good strong bodies. different phylicia a different opposition party still and that's the big story even if they are not also on the 1st place in the. in the exit polls this week this european nation post is 5 different parties from the left from left to conservative and this is their success that they managed to. go to be united this is a very big test. before the upcoming parliamentary election in poland later this year and the presidential election the election next year so the fact that they

call it is that the opposition is going to get there it's a fact even if it does not do that for victory money i just want to come back to these numbers that you're just mentioning again we're looking at a partial results at this point but you said at the ruling law and justice party is coming in at around 42 percent and that the opposition this banner a coalition of opposition parties at around 39 percent how good of a result is that for the law and justice party as you said they were really pinning their hopes on the spot looking ahead to parliamentary elections this fall. into. that. but. we will busy see how the results will be it will be and today so we don't know yet but the other parties are also. the other far right parties which also has been a coalition building that they have but. they have

succeeded to feel like they will make it. into the part that was ok our correspondent monica said that's going on in a very loud room there with the european coalition the opposition parties there in poland as we're getting a 1st results coming in there thank you thank you monica come back till a bit later in the evening. while poland's law and justice party is one of a growing list of right wing populist parties that have been expected to make a strong showing in these european parliamentary elections and they're trying to become a united front here's a closer look at a growing force and european politics. and they see the come not to break europe but to remake it divided by language. united by populism should books with their brains let me be good at statistical reasoning and a common enemy. they are europe's far right leaders

and together they are appending decades of e.u. rules and norms laying siege from within. the man hoping to lead best parts work of secularists it's of these deputy prime minister macho salvini his hardline actually forced to mount a face to help transform his friend's party and to government material and now he wants to do the same across the continent by ending together ideological bedfellows promising to tear up the rules. of our objective is to finally be a force for government and change your will to bring your blood. new hope a dream. for. his closest ally is marine le pen. the head of france's far right political dynasty she led him to campaign with her firebrand father nationalism runs and hard blood but now she's

gone her own way. the french flag be rough for a touch on the elites the e.u. and emigration in the past she called for france to leave the union but has since returned seeking instead district back to be used power that's not good so we no longer want this european union that is spreading untried of globalization on europe globalization without regulation means having slaves manufacture to sell to the unemployed so. helping to banish the shackles of brussels is your. of the alternative for germany leading up to born in the chaos of the financial crisis but who found success talking about migration equal marriage and islamic extremism unlike the others they have threatened a day a german exit from the e.u. if the bloc fails to change it can still we once were void damage will need to

change of direction otherwise briggs's won't be the last exit. then there is viktor or ban. hungary's proudly a liberal prime minister. has combats a reputation recently and have the praise of a kindred spirit like me a little bit controversial but that's ok that's ok you've done a good job and you've kept your country safe in his youth helped tear down the iron curtain now he shows off the fences here wrecked it on europe's borders he and salvini have formed a friendship of late seeing themselves as manning europe's front lines. mr selby me says that we need a new europe and i support his concept i share his view i too think that we need a new chapter. but the success of the populist insurgency may well come down to whether salvini can turn friendship into partnership.

was noticeably absent when soviet populist gathered for a buy in a rally in milan last week. the rain drenched crowd testament to the scale of the populist push by. the mean a crushing the mom casting himself as europe's salvation. by a rising tide over under and resentment. well let's come back to one of the main figures we saw in that report viktor orban from hungary one of the faces of the populist surge in europe let's go to our correspondent nick connelly is standing by in budapest he's been following the elections for us there hi nick good to see you or on the brand of politics that we saw in our report there this seems to go down pretty well with him carrying voters and you've been speaking to some people there what have they been telling you. well sumi really is the monster of all he sees here on hungary's political scene in the impressive building

behind me he's in control of almost 2 thirds of the seats he's pretty much been on challenge since becoming prime minister almost 10 years ago and it looks as if the 1st polls. to be believe that he's going to come home with a thumping victory of his feet as a party in these european elections he really styled this poll as a referendum on the future of europe he said that this was about preserving what he calls europe's christian values so really putting immigration migration at the center of this campaign and his efforts to stop that migration and this thing really to remember here is that hungary has very few migrants coming nowadays it's basically down to the hundreds per month those scenes of 2015 when thousands of migrants congregated at the train station to budapest all along since history and very few of those people are still here so it is a testament to how really those images in that atmosphere from back from 2015 really does still resonate with that it looks that victor obama will be able to

come home to a pretty impressive victory for his party this sunday and if you're saying there that his power has been relatively unchallenged and he framed the discourse around this campaign. pro and anti immigration as you said what is it about that framing about that discourse that has made him so popular with voters. it is a question of it's all about identity and people's fears and as we've spoken before especially in societies that traditionally been fairly homogeneous like hungry the issue of greater heterogeneity more different people different language from backgrounds is a challenge for many people to get their heads around and some of that really has captured people's imaginations at the same time as economic progress maybe hasn't been people wanted a lot of have moved west particularly to the u.k. to look for work so it really is an issue that has really chimed with people's

fears maybe often in ways that are less logical they might 1st appear although those images from 2015. that really have. got their way into people's heads and really being forgotten any time soon. pretty victory. for the european parliament there in budapest thank you. now we are a getting the 1st projected figures on how many seats each party group each block would have in the next european parliament these are estimates and countries where the polls are still open and projections were voting as ended and these are the current groupings in the european parliament so it's not including a possible new far right groups or new groupings within the european parliament but nonetheless let's take a look at what we're seeing so far these projections the leftist european united left the nordic green bloc there taking $46.00 seats the center left the s.n.p.

social democrats getting around $148.00 seats the greens coming in at $68.00 seats the liberal. group would receive $79.00 seats that's a business friendly bloc of the center right european peoples party the biggest group taking $173.00 seats and we have the euro skeptic conservatives the e.c. are taking 62 seats then come the populists the at around $57.00 seats and the even asks at around $59.00 seats the remaining $59.00 seats go into other smaller parties. let's parse what some of those numbers could mean we'll go to our brussels bureau chief who is standing by for us there are max so what do you take away so far from these numbers. thanks to me i have a young a simile this with me the director of studies of the european policy center so he knows a thing or 2 about numbers and we were just talking while the camera wasn't about

voter turnout because this is definitely for most people least a feel good story about these european elections so far were you surprised by that a fairly high turnout probably about 50 percent and i think that there was a promise is that the negative trends which we've seen over the past decades might be reversed for the 1st time would be a better turnout rate but the fact that it is now around 50 percent who have to see exactly where it will end at the end is something which is surprising that is that high but at the end you also need to examine that why is it the case in some countries it might be the case because some rather pro european parties did well wave it to make people come and cast their vote in other countries it's an anti vote and anti establishment which makes people go and vote so you need to analyze it in detail but overall i think that's good news and what's the i mean what's your main takeaway from that is it that people care more about europe or is it just at the fight has gotten harder but i think that yes there is you given the fact that

it's that much higher than it was 5 years ago and you can assume that it is an indication that people care about european affairs on the other hand we see in many member states that there are other reasons which made people go and vote in some countries this was an indicative vote for how national parliament eremos will work out later down the road later down the year in other countries there was people who went in order to show the yellow red card to the government so they're very different reasons but overall i think this is a positive development and it shows that there was interest in is related to europe now if you because you've been following european politics for a while now as well you've been around the block if you try to take a step back and it looks like there will be some kind of coalition. that excludes the right wing populists but that is just kicking the can down the road right i mean if nothing fundamentally changes they will get stronger and stronger so where

does this road that we're on lead us well it's true that there is a long term trend which you see at the european but also at the national level that the liberal forces in many countries are doing structurally better and better on the other hand they haven't done that well this time around i think that also a good number of mainstream parties have found responses to them they fear and stalled new political personality younger political personnel and some have stopped copying them like the greens in germany who are now for a while and not putting all their bets on issues related migration but on issues which people really care about which is not good for the perspective so there are different ways of getting to finding a way to to to treat that challenge and it needs to be something which is adopted at the national level however having said that there is this long term trend and even if they've not done as well as some had thought they might do in the european

parliament elections it would be a big mistake to say the threat of them doing well in the member states is over there still is that still is a very big challenge and i think that all mainstream parties we need to react to that and to the underlying reasons where people go and vote for them and how do they need to react if you were the policy adviser for the next you know i don't know for the next leaders of the groups in the european parliament what would you tell them what do they need to do while a european level i think the best response would be to deliver we see that but deliver what to deliver on policy issues i think we have seen over the past 5 to 10 years difficult different crises which we've experienced and there is a good number of homework.