Voting gets under way in the Netherlands
Dutch voters are casting their ballots in the European election today.
Key events
Far-right French politician Marion Maréchal is trying to convince voters who are trying to decide between Reconquête and National Rally, telling them that Jordan Bardella will surely be elected – and that it’s between giving someone lower-down on his list a shot or helping her pass the threshold.
À ceux qui hésiteraient avec le RN, n’oubliez pas que le seuil de qualification aux européennes est à 5% : M. Bardella est déjà sûr d’être élu.
Préférez-vous élire le 31ème inconnu de sa liste ou que je sois aussi votre avocate au Parlement ? #JeVoteReconquete pic.twitter.com/C6vpLkOlzt— Marion Maréchal (@MarionMarechal) June 6, 2024
Lisa O’Carroll
Disinformation latest
A new wave of EU language versions of Pravda, the Russian network, have started springing up all over Europe in what counter-disinformation experts say looks like an attempt to “convey large amounts of disinformation and pro-Russia propaganda” as EU voters go to the pools.
Versions of this new Pravda website have been detected in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Polish, Dutch, Bulgarian, Danish, Czech, Estonian, Romanian, Croatian, Finnish, Portuguese, Swedish, Hungarian, Slovak, Lithuanian, Latvian, Irish and Slovenian, says the independent European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO).
The Irish language website, which is unlikely to be of mass interest because so few people in Ireland communicate in Irish, includes genuine news such as today’s ECB interest rate cut but also pro-Russia stories about Ukraine.
“In addition to propaganda, the websites are also used to spread demonstrably false news and disinformation stories. The new English version of the website, for example, spread the false story that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had bought a luxury casino hotel in the Turkish-occupied area of Cyprus, which was proven false by local fact-checking organisations that are part of the EDMO network,” EDMO said today.
EDMO points out that not all Pravda sites are part of this network – some are legitimate services bringing independent news about Ukraine or such as pravda.org.pl which is part of the EDMO fact-checking network.
Turnout in the Netherlands at 15%
Ipsos I&O found that turnout in the Netherlands at 1:45pm was at 15 percent, NOS reported.
This rate is slightly higher than turnout during the same time in the last election.
We asked Markéta Gregorová, a member of the European parliament and candidate representing the Czech Pirates, what she’s been hearing from voters on the campaign trail.
“I would say it rather depends on the region,” she said. “But overall, a lot of people come to me, maybe not with directly a specific topic, but with a question of, what do you bring to the table? Why should I vote for you? So that’s the most common question that I get.”
“In the bigger cities, I got so many people approaching me regarding disinformation,” she said, adding:
They really wanted to know, what are we going to do about it?
First of all, they know – or some of them know – that I work on this topic, so I guess that’s also why they ask me. But I also think it’s because in the Czech Republic, there has been a lot of promises from the government regarding disinformation, but nothing happened.
So logically, people are disappointed and afraid because Czech Republic also is neighbouring Slovakia. And to be really honest, the current situation in Slovakia with the shooting of the prime minister and his win in the elections, people in Czechia are afraid we will go the same path, so they care about disinformation.
The Green Deal is also coming up in conversations, she said.
The third thing that I would mention, and that’s maybe more in the poorer regions, so to say, that we are being asked, is anything regarding the Green Deal. I feel like a lot of politicians used it as a threat here in Czechia instead of an opportunity.
And so people are more or less asking, ‘will this affect my life? will I be poorer because of it? Or why are you, you know, disbanding the cars with the combustion engine, etc?’
Spotlight: the European election in the Czech Republic
On Friday and Saturday, Czechs will go to the poll to elect 21 members of the European parliament.
ANO, the party led by populist former prime minister Andrej Babiš, is far ahead in opinion polls.
The conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of the current prime minister, Petr Fiala, is in second place, followed by the Czech Pirate party.
Controversial Irish candidate enlists celebrity endorsements
Rory Carroll
Clare Daly, Ireland’s controversial MEP, has enlisted celebrity endorsements from Annie Lennox, Susan Sarandon and other prominent figures in a battle to keep her Dublin seat.
The left-wing independent is an outspoken critic of Ursula von der Leyen and western “militarism” and has been accused of giving succour to Vladimir Putin and other dictators, which she denies.
On Wednesday, Daly posted an endorsement from Lennox, the Eurythmics singer. “If you want truth to be spoken to power with no holds barred, Clare Daly is the one and only. Vote for Clare!” the post said.
Last week Sarandon, the Thelma and Louise star, posted a video endorsing Daly and Mick Wallace, an equally outspoken MEP who represents Ireland South. The actor urged Irish voters to keep them in the European parliament. “Please don’t lose that voice in Europe, I beg of you.”
Both MEPs have been feted by state-leaning media in China, Russia and Venezuela. Pollsters predict Wallace will lose his seat and that Daly will struggle to retain hers.
‘Use it if you want a strong Europe’: Ursula von der Leyen urges people to vote
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president and centre-right lead candidate, posted a video urging people to vote for the European People’s party.
Some Dutch voters are casting their ballots with penguins looking on.
Hungary’s government stands with ‘Putin’s party of war’, US ambassador says
The American ambassador in Budapest, David Pressman, has criticised the Hungarian government’s friendly links to Russia – and the Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó’s latest trip to Saint Petersburg.
“Hungary’s government says it is the ‘party of peace’ while continuing to stand with Putin’s party of war,” Pressman said.
“Hungary’s addiction to Russian energy is dangerous and unnecessary,” he said.
Pressman added: “Minister Szijjártó is right: energy diversification is not a matter of ideology but one of physics. The laws of physics in Hungary are no different than the laws of physics in every single one of Hungary’s EU partners, all of whom have chosen to reduce dependence on Putin.”
The American diplomat’s critique comes at a time when Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party has centred its European election campaign around conspiracies that the west wants to pursue a direct conflict with Russia and force Hungarians to die in Ukraine.
Last weekend, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, spoke at a rally for “peace” where he claimed that Europe is preparing for war and that his political forces will stop this in the election.
Hungary’s Foreign Minister makes his 8th trip to Russia since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Hungary’s government says it is the “party of peace” while continuing to stand with Putin’s party of war. Hungary’s addiction to Russian energy is dangerous and unnecessary. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/6Phl4gMa8X
— Ambassador David Pressman (@USAmbHungary) June 6, 2024
Scholz signals tougher stance on deporting foreign-born criminals
Deborah Cole
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told parliament he backed deporting violent foreign-born criminals even if they came from war-ravaged Syria or Afghanistan, after an Afghan asylum seeker allegedly killed a police officer.
Accused by the conservative opposition and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) during a heated debate of a lax position on deportations, Scholz signalled a tougher stance three days before Germans vote in European elections.
“Let me be clear: it outrages me when someone who has sought protection here in our country commits the most serious crimes,” he told MPs. “Such criminals should be deported, even if they come from Syria and Afghanistan.”
The 25-year-old Afghan suspect allegedly fatally stabbed a 29-year-old police officer who was trying to stop him from committing an attack ahead of a right-wing political rally in the south-western city of Mannheim. Scholz attributed the crime, which has dominated headlines, to “radical Islamism”.
The suspect arrived in Germany as a teenager in 2013 and although his claim for asylum was rejected, was not deported initially due to his young age.
Germany stopped carrying out deportations to Afghanistan in 2021 after the Taliban returned to power. It has determined the precarious security situation in Syria would prohibit sending people back there.
The country is on edge about security as it prepares to host the Euro 2024 men’s football championship, with massive crowds expected at stadiums and public viewing venues across Germany.
Scholz in his speech called for designating zones for bans on weapons — including knives — “particularly in hotspots and at major events”.
Lisa O’Carroll
As Europe goes to the polls, we will be reporting on disinformation.
We will rely on the work of hundreds of fact-checkers feeding into the the European Digital Media Observatory, the world’s biggest counter-information service and Elections24 Check, a hub of 40 fact checking organisations around Europe including many media.
Rapid alert units are also running across the EU with election commissions also on high alert for any foreign interference.
EDMO says it has seen the highest level of disinformation ever in the last year.
Among them are false claims running in social media in Germany that marking a cross that runs outside the circle provided for the vote on the ballot paper invalidates the vote.
Experts working close to the rapid alert units all around the EU say that they are seeing everything from voter suppression attempts in Italy (with videos resurfaced from previous elections) to fear mongering in Poland with claims that Ukrainian refugees have the right to vote.
