French far-right leader Marine Le Pen won her symbolic duel with President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, as eurosceptic forces made strong gains in the EU parliamentary election.
Turnout EU-wide was estimated at 51 percent, the highest in 20 years, implying that more than 200 million citizens across the 28-nation bloc voted in a poll billed as a battle between populists and pro-European forces.
Mainstream parties put up enough of a defence to keep a majority in the 751-seat assembly — and Green parties also did well — but Le Pen’s victory in her head-to-head with Macron set the tone of the night.
Le Pen’s National Rally was on track for around 24.0-24.2 percent, with Macron’s centrists trailing with 22.5-23.0 percent, according to two polls from Ifop-Fiducial and Harris Interactive-Agence Epoka.
The mainstream conservatives, centrists and socialists in the European Parliament now face a choice over whether to maintain a “cordon sanitaire” to keep the radicals from the levers of power, or to seek accommodation.
Each previous EU election since the first in 1979 has seen turnout fall, but initial figures from across the 28-nation bloc suggested this year’s culture clash has…
