BRUSSELS — Populists and nationalists who want to chip away at the European Union’s powers increased their share in Europe’s Parliament after four days of continent-wide elections, but it was not the deluge that many traditionalists had feared. When the vote counting is done, the populists are expected to get around 25 percent of the 751 seats, up from 20 percent five years ago, figures released by the European Union showed on Sunday. Overall the result indicated that the struggle over the future direction of the bloc — more integration among European countries, or less — would only intensify. The populists and nationalists appeared poised for gains that would give them a larger stage in Brussels to voice their complaints about the European Union.

Source: New York Times May 26, 2019 21:27 UTC