European Parliament vote: a step too far?

Polls suggest extremists will profit from Europe’s economic woes to make record gains in the May elections. Here, we analyse them country by country

(…)
HUNGARY

The antisemitic Jobbik party is likely to retain its seats in May, but that result could be affected by the outcome of the national election in April, experts say.

The latest polls show Jobbik has at least 11 per cent support among decided voters. This would translate into two or three seats in the European Parliament. It currently holds three.

But analysts say support for extremist parties is unpredictable because supporters are hesitant to reveal their preferences before election day. In Hungary, 41 per cent of the electorate is undecided or uncommitted to a party.

In 2009, many were surprised when Jobbik won 15 per cent of the popular vote, says Péter Balázs, professor at Budapest’s Central European University.

Voters feel they can support extremist parties in European elections because “there is no direct political consequence of the choice of the voters,” he said. “It’s almost symbolic and sometimes compensation for the outcome of the national election.”

Jobbik’s influence in the next European parliament will be limited by its small size and extremism. Its MEPs are not members of an official political group, which means they have “less chance to speak and have an impact on the votes,” said Péter Krekó, of the Hungarian think-tank, Political Capital.

Jobbik’s two closest allies ideologically are the BNP, which does not belong to a group either, and Greece’s Golden Dawn, which does not have any MEPs.

Other right-wing parties are unlikely to embrace Jobbik because of its strong antisemitic and anti-Israeli stance.
(…)

more: theJConline