In a remarkable year for elections, nearly half of the world’s population has been called to the polls, including in eight out of the ten most populous countries. In Europe, the elections for the European Parliament took place in June and a number of national elections have been held across the continent.
The European Parliament has awarded Venezuelan opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González the Sakharov Prize, an award for human rights and freedom of thought created in 1988.
Heavily contested parliamentary elections in Georgia, presidential elections and a referendum on European Union membership in Moldova: both countries were closely watched by the EU with an eye to enlargement, but took different turns towards that goal. At the same time, the votes were allegedly stained by Russian interference.
The French left-wing alliance New Popular Front has won a surprise victory in Sunday’s legislative elections. Some EU leaders are hailing the result as a relief for European integration, averting a French government led by nationalists and eurosceptics. France now enters a period of political uncertainty as it tries to form a new government.
German lawmakers, including MEP Katarina Barley (S&D), welcomed the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the United Kingdom’s general election.