Far-Right parties celebrated a massive night of victories following sweeping gains in European Union elections. A mix of anti-immigration, anti-EU-integration, and neo-Nazi parties took seats away from the traditional centrist parties in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Austria and elsewhere.

Europe’s voters lurched towards the political fringes on Sunday night as early European Parliament election results showed gains for parties ranging from the populist to the neo-Nazi, with France’s Front National (FN) leading the Eurosceptic surge in a calamitous defeat for mainstream parties.

In France, the Front National claimed 25 percent of the popular vote, making it the largest French party in European politics. Even more remarkable was the performance of Ukip in the UK, which the media is calling a “political earthquake.”

In both Brussels and Paris, Jews, their supporters and senior government members held protests against anti-Semitism.  The events were held after the May 24 killing of four people outside a Jewish museum in the Belgian capital. Both Belgium and France tightened security around Jewish communal buildings following the shootings.

While many see the European votes as a sign of the rise of the political right, former Israeli ambassador to the European Union Avi Primor told Israel Radio he believes the ballots in several of the countries were protest votes against serving governments. In France, for example, he argued traditionally the protest vote would go to the communists, whereas today that vote has shifted to the far right

{[Photo: Bandine Le Cain / flickr]