Europeans punished the established political parties in several countries during recent voting for the European Parliament (EP). The biggest shock came from the UK, where the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), which advocates complete withdrawal from the EU, appears, at the time of writing, to have secured 20% of the vote and 17 seats. This places the UKIP third in the country, behind the Conservatives and Labour parties (both each at 22% at the time of writing). This leaves the more established Liberal Democrats trailing at 14%.

"Eurosceptics," as those warning of the political dangers of the EU are known, also achieved a significant victory in Sweden, where a new Euro-critical party called Junilistan came in third in the election, garnering 14.4% of the vote and three seats in the new EP.

In addition, in both France and Belgium, far-right parties made significant gains, and increased their representation in the European Parliament.

While the above results are interesting, and may even be significant, in regard to the individual nations in which they occurred, it also continues to point to a general restless, desperate mood across the continent. Europeans continue to be disappointed in their economy, and the overall appearance of a dis-jointed strategic and foreign policy.

Source: EU Observer