Dr. Cui Hongjian:The Outcome of the EP election Could Have Spillover Effects on the U.S.-Europe Relations

“The 2024 European Parliamentary (EP) election, held in June, was marked by the rise of far-right parties, showing the trend of polarization and fragmentation within the EP,” says Dr. Cui Hongjian (Professor of theAcademy ofRegional and Global Governanceat; iGCU Academic Committee Member). To read more about Dr. Cui’s op-ed in Chinese on @realGuancha, please visit:https://www.guancha.cn/cuihongjian/2024_06_12_737735_s.shtml

Dr. Cui notes that the 2024 EP election saw a shift to the right, with the center-left parties gradually being replaced by parties with a more distinctly left-wing character, and center-right parties moving closer to the far-right vis-à-vis their political ideologies and policies adopted. He stresses that the outcome of the EP election could have spillover effects on the U.S.-Europe relations. The utmost concern for mainstream European political parties is thatwithTrump winningthe2024U.S. Presidential election, the rise of right-wing political forces in Europe could synchronize with anti-establishment forces in the U.S., further complicating current U.S.-EU relations.

Regarding its potential impacts on the China-EU relations, Dr. Cui reckons that, given the complexity of the European politics, it remains unclear whether the rise of far-right political parties would benefit or harm EU’s relationship with China.