EU elections live: Centre-right on course to strengthen majority in ...

You could be forgiven for asking what just happened, because as the big election news rolled in across European politics, France's Emmanuel Macron announced he was dissolving the French parliament and calling snap elections.

That decision stole the show, after his Renew party's heavy defeat to Marine Le Pen's National Rally became clear.

But there are many other significant stories both national and European.

The opposition conservative parties won in both Germany and Spain. But it was German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who had the biggest headache, as his Social Democrats were overtaken by the far-right AfD.

The new centre-right Hungarian party of Peter Magyar came from nowhere to finish second with more than 30% of the vote, cementing his challenge to PM Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz.

Across Europe it was the night of the centre right, with 189 seats in the 720-seat European Parliament set to go to their victorious grouping, the European People's Party.

However, Italy's Giorgia Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy won the Italian vote and Austria's far-right Freedom Party FPÖ looks on course for a narrow but historic victory in the European vote.

But there was no far-right victory in Belgium. PM Alexander De Croo's liberals suffered a heavy defeat in national elections, but it was Flemish nationalist leader Bart De Wever who claimed victory.

Portugal's opposition Socialists secured a narrow victory, but the best result for the left came in Denmark, where the Green Left was on course to become the biggest party, defeating Mette Frederiksen's governing Social Democrats.