Far-right parties made significant gains in the European Parliament elections on Sunday, forcing French President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve his government and call snap elections later this month.
While the centre, liberal and socialist parties were projected to maintain a majority in the 720-seat parliament, the election results dealt a blow to the leaders of France and Germany.
This development raises questions about how major powers in the European Union can shape policy within the bloc.
Far-right members of the European Parliament from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands proved to be successful.
Like Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also endured a painful night where his Social Democrats scored their worst result ever, suffering at the hands of the mainstream conservatives and hard right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni saw her position strengthened by her arch-conservative Brothers of Italy group winning the most votes, exit polls showed.
A rightwards shift inside the European Parliament may make it tougher to pass new legislation that might be needed to respond to security challenges, the impact of climate change or industrial competition from China and the United States.
However, exactly how much clout the euro-sceptic nationalist parties will wield will depend on their ability to overcome their differences and work together.
They are currently split between two different families, and some parties and lawmakers for now lie outside these groupings.
