ROME -- Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party won the most votes in the European Parliamentary Elections, securing 28.8 per cent of the votes, according to projections issued by the interior ministry.

  The Democratic Party (PD) came in second place, trailing by around 4 points, winning 24 per cent of the votes and will be expected to act as the Brothers of Italy’s main opposition force. The left leaning Five Star Movement came third with almost 10 per cent of votes, marking one of their worst results in history. 

  Forza Italia and the League, both right wing parties, came head to head, with Forza Italia slightly leading at 9.72 per cent against 9.14.

  Elly Schelin, head of the Democratic Party, appeared before the press following the results. “We will continue to be stubbornly united and feel an even stronger need to build an alternative.” 

  Giorgia Meloni surpassed her success in the 2022 general elections, where her party received 26 per cent of votes. “I am very proud,” she said following the results. “It is good news that the country is strengthening itself towards a two party system.” 

  “They saw us coming, but they were not up to the task of stopping us.” Meloni continued referring to the Democratic Party. 

  The PD has had the most growth since the Italian general elections, increasing from 19 to 24 per cent in two years, and gaining more votes than in the 2019 EU elections, when they achieved 22 per cent. 

  “It is an extraordinary result for us, we are the party that has grown the most since the general elections and the gap with the Brothers of Italy is narrowing.” Schlein said to the press, accompanied by party members Stefano Bonaccini, Chiara Braga, and Francesco Boccia. 

  “At the European level, the Socialist Party of Europe is holding its ground, and, as was our objective, no majority is possible in the European Parliament without the Socialists and Democrats group,” 

  The centre right also aimed to portray a united front, as Matteo Salvini, Federal Secretary of the League, called for unity within the centre right in Europe. “I am counting on the centre right, which is solid, united, and winning in Italy, not to be divided in Brussels.” 

  This follows the former Federal Secretary of the League, Umberto Bossi, casting his vote for the Forza Italia party. “On a personal level,” Salvini responded, “a friend that changes his mind at the last minute shows a certainly strange behaviour, almost disloyal, a strange behaviour to expect from a person who has always been on one side.”  

  Data released by the Interior Ministry showed that less than half of the Italian electorate turned up to polling stations this weekend, with a turn out of 49.69 per cent. The figures come from 54,238 out of 62,650 polling stations. This is a drop since the 2019 EU elections, which saw 54.5 per cent of the electorate cast their votes

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