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Monday, June 14, 2004

The 25-nation vote, which was spread out over four days, also revealed anxieties about an issue close to home: the newly expanded European Union itself.

Among the few that did well were Spain's Socialists, who recently withdrew troops from Iraq after a backlash over a March 11 terrorist attack. The Socialists - surprise victors in elections days after the bombings - won a new stamp of legitimacy by emerging on top in the European parliamentary vote as well.

The continent-wide democratic exercise, which ended with 19 countries voting on Sunday, came at a crucial time in the development of the European Union. The bloc has just added 10 members, largely from Eastern Europe and leaders hope to agree on a new constitution later this month.

Across Europe, the outcome highlighted anxieties about the expanding union, with anti-EU parties projected to do well in Britain, Sweden, and even the Czech Republic and Poland, former communist nations participating in their first EU-wide vote.

"The anti-integration parties won," Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla said.

Overall, center-right parties won, taking between 247 and 277 seats in the 732-member European Parliament, according to preliminary projections. The center-left group, which includes lawmakers from British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party and Schroeder's Social Democrats, finished second - with an expected 189 to 209 seats.

The 44.6 percent turnout was the lowest ever in a European Parliament election, and just 28.7 percent voted in the 10 newest states.

Blair's Labour Party also came in third in local elections held simultaneously in England and Wales earlier this week. The results were widely perceived in Britain as a rebuke for Blair's increasingly unpopular support for President Bush over Iraq. Some party officials said they feared they might lose the next national election, expected next year.

Iraq also was an issue in The Netherlands, where the deployment of 1,400 troops was a key issue in Thursday's vote. Preliminary results showed gains for leftist opposition parties.

The European Parliament cannot introduce legislation, but its powers have strengthened dramatically since its first elections in 1979. It has EU budget approval and influence over legislation on trade, environment and consumer affairs. Legislators shuttle between sessions in Strasbourg, France, and Brussels, Belgium.

The Iraq war split Europe, with Blair, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and then-Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar strongly backing the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. France and Germany led the opposition.

Aznar lost his job after the train bombings in Madrid and new Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero hoped for a strong result to dispel the impression that he won power on more than a protest vote. He got a narrow win - 43.3 percent compared to 41.3 percent for the opposition Popular Party.

Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, the country's largest, was projected to get between 20.5 and 23.5 percent of the vote, down from 25.2 percent in the previous European election, according to a poll for RAI state TV. Government coalition parties were projected to run a few points below the center-

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