BRUSSELS: Italy became the first heavyweight nation to cast votes for the EU's next parliament on Saturday, in a test of far-right leader Giorgia Meloni's strength at home -- and future influence in the bloc.
Most of the European Union's 27 member countries, including powerhouses France and Germany, go to the polls on Sunday, the final day, with projected overall results due late that evening.
The ballot in Italy -- the EU's third-biggest economy with 76 of the 720 seats in the new parliament -- could have major consequences.
Meloni was expected to cast her ballot in her Rome constituency where temperatures were set to hit a sweltering 35 degrees Celsius.
Polls suggest Meloni's Brothers of Italy party could win with 27 percent of the vote -- more than quadrupling its score from 2019 -- amid a broader surge of far-right groups across the bloc.
That would set up Meloni as a powerbroker in deciding whether EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen gets the backing she needs, from both member states and parliament, for a second term.
In the election run-up, Meloni has been actively courted both by the centre-right von der Leyen -- and by French far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party is also topping the polls in the EU race.
EU-wide, immigration is the hot-button issue driving support to far-right parties. They are forecast to grab a quarter of parliament seats -- though the centrist mainstream is still seen coming out on top.
Beyond the predicted surge, analysts say the bigger question is whether parliament's main grouping, von der Leyen's European People's Party (EPP), will ally with the far right.
Von der Leyen has indicated willingness to have the EPP work with far-right lawmakers, as long as they are pro-EU and not what she calls "puppets" of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Both of those parties are leery of EU military and financial support to Ukraine against Russia's attcking forces. Hungary's ruling populist Fidesz party is likewise opposed to further helping Kyiv.
Italy was voting on the same day as Slovakia, which was shaken by an assassination attempt last month on premier Robert Fico. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
