Asim Mollazade comments on outcome of European elections

Opponents of a united Europe were more successful in elections to the European Parliament in France, Denmark and the United Kingdom as the Brussels did not have a strong and positive impact on the economic development of these countries, said Asim Mollazade, a member of Azerbaijan’s parliament.

This is the way Europeans protested against the current bureaucratic system in Europe, Mollazade said.    

Far-right parties and those opposing the united Europe did very well in Sunday’s elections while traditional parties suffered significant losses.  

Mollazade said all this was down to the serious social and economic woes in countries of the European Union.

“In many cases, developed European nations have to shoulder the heavy burden of weaker economies. This certainly leads to a loss of voter trust,” Mollazade said in an interview with 1news.az.

Mollazade also commented on Ukraine’s Association Agreement with the European Union.  

The agreement does not mean that Ukraine has become a member of the EU, he said.

“We remember well the way many European bureaucrats caused problems for Ukraine. The deterioration of the situation in Ukraine was due to serious pressure by European officials,” he said. 

All these developments played a part in the outcome of the elections, which saw skeptics of Europe winning in many countries of the European Union, Mollazade said.

The centre-right European People's Party appears set to win 213 out of the 751 seats, with 28.36% across the bloc, according to estimated results issued by the European Parliament. That would mean it remains the biggest group - but with more than 60 seats fewer than before.

The Socialist alliance has a projected 190 seats, with 25.3% of the vote, the Liberals 9% and the Greens 7%.

The Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group appeared to have around 38 seats - including the 24 for UKIP. But the number of non-attached right-wing MEPs is set to rise, boosting the Eurosceptic camp.

Mr Barroso said a "truly democratic debate" was needed to address the concerns of those who did not vote, or "voted in protest".

Provisional results put the turnout at EU 43.1%, the first time turnout had not fallen since the previous election, but only an increase of 0.1%.

Bakudaily.az