Far Right Surges in European Parliament Elections, Early Data Shows

Elections in 27 countries for the European Parliament ended on Sunday, with early projections giving far-right parties a strong showing, a result that, if confirmed, would amount to a strong gauge of voter dissatisfaction and a stinging rebuke for the political mainstream.

The balloting indicated that the prevailing winds had grown decidedly chill for Europe’s political establishment. If confirmed, they are likely to make it harder for the European Parliament to form majorities to pass laws, and would render negotiations over divisive issues even tougher. More broadly, they underscored that the momentum of the far-right forces that have been expanding their challenge to centrists over the past decade had yet to crest.

The projected outcome did not bode well for Europe’s centrist leaders and their parties, including in France and Germany, the continent’s biggest powers that are considered the engine of Europe’s experiment in pooling national sovereignty.

The results were especially crushing for President Emmanuel Macron of France, who on Saturday night hosted President Biden at a state dinner in Paris. Mr. Macron’s Renaissance party was poised to finish with about half the support of the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen, which was on track to secure more than 30 percent of the vote, according to projections based on preliminary vote counts.

The result may now leave Ms. Le Pen, whom Mr. Macron has derided as a threat to the values of the French Republic, in her strongest position yet to challenge the French mainstream in presidential elections three years from now, when Mr. Macron, who is term limited, must step aside.