Macron and Scholz hit by mega blows as exit polls point to DISASTER for pro-EU parties in European elections

National Rally ]won around 32 per cent of the votes, a 10 point increase on the last EU election in 2019 and some 17 points ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's party, according to the first exit polls.

In Germany, the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) took second place behind the opposition conservatives with 16.5 per cent of the vote, up from 11 per cent in 2019, according to an exit poll published by public broadcaster ARD.

National Rally president Jordan Bardella said: "Emmanuel Macron is a weakened president, already deprived of an absolute majority in the French parliament and now restricted in his means of action within the European Parliament.

"The President of the Republic must choose to follow the spirit of the institutions, solemnly take note of this new political situation, return to the French people and organise new legislative elections."

French Socialist MEP Raphaël Glucksmann said: "The far right in France today represents 40 per cent of the vote in France. Across Europe, we are witnessing a wave that is profoundly shaking our democracies."

In the Netherlands, which voted on Thursday, exit polls showed nationalist Geert Wilders' anti-immigration party was set to win seven of the 29 Dutch seats in the EU assembly, just one short of the combined seats of a Socialist Democrat-Greens alliance.

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Meanwhile, in Austria, the hard-right Freedom Party is the likely winner of the ballot, according to a poll based on surveys carried out over the past week and published as voting there closed on Sunday evening.

After the close of voting in Greece, the first exit poll results show the ruling party, New Democracy, comes first with between 28 per cent and 32 per cent. Hard-right, pro-Russian party Greek Solution takes 7.6 per cent to 10 per cent and the ultra-conservative Niki is recording 2.9 per cent to 4.9 per cent.

Spanish exit polls show that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) are vying for first place with the conservative People’s Party (PP).

An exit poll by Danish national broadcast DR, the SF, the Socialist People's Party, which goes by the English name the Green Left is expected to win the largest chunk of the votes, with 18.4 per cent, and to score three out of the 15 Danish seats in the European Parliament.

The AfD gained ground among younger voters, up 12 percentage points to 17 per cent among 16-24 year olds, tying with the conservatives for most popular party in that age group, and in the former Communist East.

The AfD's co-leader Alice Weidel said: "We've done well because people have become more anti-European."

Germany's Greens were the biggest loser on Sunday, falling 8.6 percentage points to 11.9%, according to the ARD exit poll, punished by voters for the cost of policies to reduce CO2 emissions - in line with expectations for environmental parties across Europe.