EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

Here are some quotes from Reuters and other news services picked at random about the European elections.

Ukraine.
Asked by a foreign journalist about relations with Russia, Poroshenko, speaking in fluent English, said he would insist on respect for Ukraine's "sovereignty and territorial integrity". He also said Ukraine would never recognize Russia's "occupation of Crimea", the Black Sea region seized by Moscow in March.

 France
 In France, Marine Le Pen's nationalist movement which blames Brussels for everything from immigration to job losses, was set to take about 25 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of the conservative opposition UMP on about 21 percent.

President Francois Hollande's Socialists suffered their second electoral humiliation in two months after losing dozens of town halls, trailing far behind in third place with about 14.5 percent, according to projections based on partial results.


Greece
 It was a different story in Greece, epicenter of the euro zone's debt crisis, where the far-left anti-austerity Syriza movement of Alexis Tsipras was expected to take 26-30 percent of the vote, pushing governing New Democracy into second place.

That would appear to reflect popular frustration with the harsh spending cuts the government has adopted in recent years to meet the terms of its economic rescue program.

The surge in support for the far-left raises doubts about how much longer the center-right government can last with a parliamentary majority of just two seats, although government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said there was no question that the government would not finish its four-year term.

Germany
 Projections by German television indicated that Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats would secure 36 percent of the vote, down from a 23-year-high of 41.5 percent in last year's federal election but still a clear victory.

The center-left Social Democrats were forecast to take 27.5 percent, according to public broadcaster ARD, with turnout up from the last European elections in 2009.

The anti-euro Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won parliamentary representation for the first time with an estimated 6.5 percent, the best result so far for a conservative
party created only last year.

Netherlands
But in the Netherlands, the anti-Islam, Eurosceptic Freedom Party of Geert Wilders' - which plans to forge an alliance with France's National Front - fell well short of its goal of topping the poll.

UK
In Britain, the UK Independence Party, which campaigns to leave the European Union, was set for a strong score after making big gains in local elections held at the same time on Thursday.

From the BBC

The National Front has come first in France's elections to the European Parliament according to exit polls in what PM Manuel Valls has declared a "political earthquake".

Eurosceptic parties appeared also to have made big gains in other countries, coming first in Denmark and Greece.

The centre-right EPP looked set to be the biggest bloc in parliament.

Turnout in the election was 43.1%, according to provisional European Parliament figures - up on last time.

But that would be the first time turnout had not fallen since the previous election - but would only be an improvement of 0.1%.

Business Insider

REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks during a confidence vote at the Senate in Rome February 24, 2014.

Europe held votes today for the European Parliament in Brussels and the big headline is going to be the strong showing for right-wing parties.

Indeed in France and the UK, Euroskpetic, rightist parties won big (the National Front and the UKIP respectively).

But from a markets perspective, the rise of anti-Europe parties is only one story.

The other story is that establishment parties did quite well in both Greece and Italy.

In Italy, the liberal party of Italian PM Matteo Renzi scored 40% of the vote, winning handily.

And in Greece, although the leftist SYRIZA party won the greatest number of votes, the coalition of New Democracy (conservative) and PASOK (traditional left) maintained a strong showing. As Nick Malkoutzis puts it, the current government has done enough to survive.

So while the Euroskeptic surge is an issue for the EU, in countries that are particularly vulnerable, the establishment parties are holding on.