Far-right gains in the EU elections caused a political earthquake in France on Sunday, but mainstream parties retained a majority in the bloc's parliament.
French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the national parliament and called a snap election after exit polls indicated that far-right leader Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) had decisively beaten his liberal party in the European elections.
Results showed the National Rally at 31.5 percent, securing 30 seats in the upcoming EU parliament, more than double the 14.6 percent and 13 seats for Macron's Renaissance party.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also faced disappointing news, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) taking second place at 16 percent, ahead of his Social Democrats at 14 percent
Far-right progress
The stinging blows for Europe's most powerful centrist leaders meant that the far-right was on course to boost its presence in the EU's transnational parliament.
In announcing his decision, Macron said he refused to "resign" himself to "far right parties... progressing everywhere in the continent."
But it was far from a clean-sweep for the far-right which fell short of expectations in the Netherlands and Belgium, with the picture still emerging elsewhere.
And crucially, parties on the extreme right remain divided - making them likely to remain on the sidelines in Brussels.
A preliminary projection from the parliament showed the three main centrist parties set to maintain a clear majority, albeit slightly reduced, with 401 out of 720 seats up for grabs.
The centre-right European People's Party (EPP) came first with 184, followed by its two main partners - the centre-left Socialists and Democrats on 139 and the centrist Renew Europe on 80.
"Today is a good day my friends. We are the strongest party. We are the anchor of stability," European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who is seeking another term in charge, told her EPP grouping.
"Together with others we will build a bastion against the extremes from the left and from the right. We will stop them. This is for sure."
Green losses
The crushing victory for Le Pen in France had been widely predicted - and her party had already come first in the European polls in the country in 2019.
"A deep humiliation as expected for Macron's centrist camp in today's European elections," wrote Eurasia Group analyst Mujtaba Rahman.
Elsewhere around Europe, Green parties appeared among the biggest losers of the night - as right-wing opponents channelled discontent into anger at EU's environmental push.
More than 360 million people across the EU's 27 nations were eligible to vote to help shape the European Union's direction over the next five years.
The election came as the continent is confronted with Russia's war in Ukraine, global trade tensions marked by US-China rivalry, a climate emergency and the prospect of a disruptive new Donald Trump presidency.
Horsetrading begins
Now the voting is over, the horsetrading will begin as EU leaders and lawmakers look to select who runs the powerful European Commission over the next five years.
Von der Leyen remains favourite - but it is still to be seen if she will get the nod from the bloc's 27 leaders and then be able to ensure the centrist groups back her in parliament.
The picture was set to become clearer with the results from Italy - where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's post-fascist Brothers of Italy is expected to triumph.
Meloni is being courted both by von der Leyen - who needs her backing for a second mandate - as well as Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who would like to form a far-right parliament supergroup.
