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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

EU citizens in UK denied vote in European elections Hundreds — if not thousands — of non-British EU citizens were turned away from polling stations on Thursday after being told they were not registered to vote in the United Kingdom forthe election of the European Parliament. The main reason given by polling station workers was that the would-be voterʼs form had not been processed in time. However, in some cases, local authorities admitted they had made errors. "The Electoral Commission, local authorities and the Government in Westminster have failed despite multiple warnings over the last six weeks," said The 3 Million, a lobby group for the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.

Forward or backward? Decision time in the EU "The elections taking place on 26 May will decide the destiny of this continent," the leader of the Christian Democratic bloc in the European Parliament,Manfred Weber,declared at a plenary session last month. Weber heads the list of candidates for his political family, the European Peopleʼs Party (EPP), and he is not alone: Many politicians from all camps have been using the same terms to describe the upcoming European elections. Weber intends to run for president of the European Commission. He sees the vote as a straight fight between pro-Europeans and nationalists. "This Europe that weʼre living in today is a good Europe," he says. "We wonʼt let todayʼs nationalists destroy it for us." There havenever been as many right-wing populists and euroskeptics in EU member statesas there are for this election. Opinion polls are indicating that they could get more than 20% of the seats.

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Hungaryʼs ruling party threatens to leave proEU bloc ahead of vote Who are the far-right populists looking to disrupt the EU?

Hungaryʼs foreign minister has said that migration policy would determine whether the ruling Fidesz Party remains in the center-right European Peopleʼs Party (EPP) grouping after the European parliamentary elections. Hungaryʼs Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Thursday the ruling Fidesz party would see the EPPʼs future course before making a decision about staying or leaving the center-right grouping. "If the EPP moves towards migration, it is not a direction we can follow for sure," said Szijjarto. "We hope the EPP will move back to the place where it used to be when we joined … if the EPP makes an alliance with pro-migration parties, that is definitely a red line for us," Szijjarto, a Fidesz Party lawmaker, told Reuters news agency. The EPPsuspended Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbanʼs Fidesz Partyin March over concerns that it violated EU principles on the rule of law. Earlier this month, Orban said he wanted the EPP bloc in the European Parliament to have closer ties with euroskeptic and nationalist parties. Szijjarto, too, urged the EPP to shift

toward the right. Far-right populist parties such as Marine Le Penʼs National Rally in France and Matteo Salviniʼs Northern League in Italy are expected to perform well in the European Parliament elections. Szijjarto did not rule out the possibility of linking up with Le Pen and Salvini. Chancellor Angela Merkelʼs decision to open Germanyʼs doors to migrants in 2015 split the EPP bloc between pro- and anti-immigration factions. The EPP currently has 217 lawmakers in the 750-strong EU legislature, and 12 of them are from Hungaryʼs ruling party. The future of the coalition will be at stake in the European parliamentary election, taking place until Sunday. Szijjarto has dubbed the May 26 European Parliament vote as the most significant the 28nation bloc has ever held, as it offered two distinct versions of its future.

President Steinmeier calls for decency on 70th anniversary of German constitution German President Frank-Walter Steinmeierissued a call for civility and repudiation of hatred and enmity on Thursday during an event to mark the 70th anniversary of Germanyʼs constitution, known as the Basic Law. "With all freedom and in the heat of conflict, something must be retained that can be summed up in two concepts: decency and reason," said Steinmeier, standing alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and 200 citizens who received invitations to the event. "And that is also the reason that we are here, because we do not want hatred and enmity to penetrate our debates like a poison," the president said. He also called on political leaders to listen to the concerns of their constituents, warning that populism feeds off feelings of political impotence.

US arrests banker for Trump administration job bribe The head of a bank is accused of approving loans in exchange for a job in the White House. Although he failed to get one, he was placed on a "prestigious" committee tied to Trumpʼs campaign, prosecutors said. US authorities on Thursday arrested Federal Savings Bank CEO Stephen Calk for financial institution bribery. Federal prosecutors accused Calk of approving $16 million (€14 million) of risky loans for Paul Manafort,a disgraced manager of US President Donald Trumpʼs 2016 electoral campaign, in exchange for a top position in the administration.

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