Portugal's Socialists win European elections

Portugal's opposition Socialists (PS) have claimed victory in the European Parliament elections, the electoral authority said on Sunday evening with almost 99% of ballots counted.

The Socialists garnered 32.12% of the vote, only narrowly ahead of the governing conservative Democratic Alliance (AD), which came in second 31.31%.

The right-wing populist Chega party won 9.81%. It was the first time that the party, founded in 2019, took part in European elections.

In parliamentary elections in March, Chega garnered 18.1%.

In Sunday's EU-wide vote, Portugal's Liberals made gains, winning 8.95%, up from 4.9% in the national elections in March.

Voter turnout in Portugal stood at around 37%, up from 30.75% in 2019.