The Latest on the European Parliament elections taking place Saturday (all times local):

A far-right party in Slovakia that openly admires the country's wartime Nazi puppet state could win seats in the European Parliament for the first time.

Slovaks are among four countries voting Saturday in the Europe-wide vote, which finishes Sunday.

Polls favor the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party, the senior member of Slovakia's current coalition government to win the most votes.

Polls suggest People's Party Our Slovakia, a far-right party that has 14 seats in Slovakia's parliament, will win seats in the European legislature for the first time.

Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and the European Union.

The election reflects a continental struggle between nationalists who want to wrest power back from the EU and moderates who want to make the EU stronger.

Voters in Slovakia, Malta, Latvia and the Czech Republic are casting ballots in European Parliament elections.

The stakes for the European Union are especially high in this year's elections, which are taking place over four days and involve all 28 EU nations.

Many predict nationalists and far-right groups will gain ground. They would try to use a larger presence in the legislature to claw back power from the EU for their national governments.

More moderate parties want to cement closer ties among countries in the EU.

Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands have already voted. The Czech Republic started voting Friday and continues Saturday. Slovakia, Malta and Latvia are holding their European Parliament elections Saturday — and all the other nations vote Sunday. </s> BRUSSELS — The Latest on the European Parliament elections taking place Saturday (all times local):

A far-right party in Slovakia that openly admires the country's wartime Nazi puppet state could win seats in the European Parliament for the first time.

Slovaks are among four countries voting Saturday in the Europe-wide vote, which finishes Sunday.

Polls favor the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party, the senior member of Slovakia's current coalition government to win the most votes.

Polls suggest People's Party Our Slovakia, a far-right party that has 14 seats in Slovakia's parliament, will win seats in the European legislature for the first time.

Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and the European Union.

The election reflects a continental struggle between nationalists who want to wrest power back from the EU and moderates who want to make the EU stronger.

Voters in Slovakia, Malta, Latvia and the Czech Republic are casting ballots in European Parliament elections.

The stakes for the European Union are especially high in this year's elections, which are taking place over four days and involve all 28 EU nations.

Many predict nationalists and far-right groups will gain ground. They would try to use a larger presence in the legislature to claw back power from the EU for their national governments.

More moderate parties want to cement closer ties among countries in the EU.

Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands have already voted. The Czech Republic started voting Friday and continues Saturday. Slovakia, Malta and Latvia are holding their European Parliament elections Saturday — and all the other nations vote Sunday. </s> BRUSSELS (AP) — The Latest on the European Parliament elections taking place Saturday (all times local):

A far-right party in Slovakia that openly admires the country's wartime Nazi puppet state could win seats in the European Parliament for the first time.

Slovaks are among four countries voting Saturday in the Europe-wide vote, which finishes Sunday.

Polls favor the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party, the senior member of Slovakia's current coalition government to win the most votes.

Polls suggest People's Party Our Slovakia, a far-right party that has 14 seats in Slovakia's parliament, will win seats in the European legislature for the first time.

Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and the European Union.

The election reflects a continental struggle between nationalists who want to wrest power back from the EU and moderates who want to make the EU stronger.

Voters in Slovakia, Malta, Latvia and the Czech Republic are casting ballots in European Parliament elections.

The stakes for the European Union are especially high in this year's elections, which are taking place over four days and involve all 28 EU nations.

Many predict nationalists and far-right groups will gain ground. They would try to use a larger presence in the legislature to claw back power from the EU for their national governments.

More moderate parties want to cement closer ties among countries in the EU.

Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands have already voted. The Czech Republic started voting Friday and continues Saturday. Slovakia, Malta and Latvia are holding their European Parliament elections Saturday — and all the other nations vote Sunday. </s> BRUSSELS — The Latest on the European Parliament elections taking place Saturday (all times local):

A far-right party in Slovakia that openly admires the country’s wartime Nazi puppet state could win seats in the European Parliament for the first time.

Slovaks are among four countries voting Saturday in the Europe-wide vote, which finishes Sunday.

Polls favor the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party, the senior member of Slovakia’s current coalition government to win the most votes.

Polls suggest People’s Party Our Slovakia, a far-right party that has 14 seats in Slovakia’s parliament, will win seats in the European legislature for the first time.

Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and the European Union.

The election reflects a continental struggle between nationalists who want to wrest power back from the EU and moderates who want to make the EU stronger.

Voters in Slovakia, Malta, Latvia and the Czech Republic are casting ballots in European Parliament elections.

The stakes for the European Union are especially high in this year’s elections, which are taking place over four days and involve all 28 EU nations.

Many predict nationalists and far-right groups will gain ground. They would try to use a larger presence in the legislature to claw back power from the EU for their national governments.

More moderate parties want to cement closer ties among countries in the EU.

Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands have already voted. The Czech Republic started voting Friday and continues Saturday. Slovakia, Malta and Latvia are holding their European Parliament elections Saturday — and all the other nations vote Sunday.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> A far-right party in Slovakia that openly admires the country’s wartime Nazi puppet state could win seats in the European Parliament for the first time. Slovaks are among four countries voting Saturday in the Europe-wide vote, which finishes Sunday. Polls favour the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party, the senior member of Slovakia’s current coalition government to win the most votes.

Polls suggest People’s Party Our Slovakia, a far-right party that has 14 seats in Slovakia’s parliament, will win seats in the European legislature for the first time. Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and the European Union. The election reflects a continental struggle between nationalists who want to wrest power back from the EU and moderates who want to make the EU stronger.

Voters in Slovakia, Malta, Latvia and the Czech Republic are casting ballots in European Parliament elections. The stakes for the European Union are especially high in this year’s elections, which are taking place over four days and involve all 28 EU nations.

Many predict nationalists and far-right groups will gain ground. They would try to use a larger presence in the legislature to claw back power from the EU for their national governments. More moderate parties want to cement closer ties among countries in the EU. Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands have already voted. The Czech Republic started voting Friday and continues Saturday. Slovakia, Malta and Latvia are holding their European Parliament elections Saturday — and all the other nations vote Sunday. </s> BRUSSELS (AP) — Voters in Slovakia, Malta, Latvia and the Czech Republic are casting ballots in European Parliament elections.

The stakes for the European Union are especially high in this year's elections, which are taking place over four days and involve all 28 EU nations.

Many predict nationalists and far-right groups will gain ground. They would try to use a larger presence in the legislature to claw back power from the EU for their national governments.

More moderate parties want to cement closer ties among countries in the EU.

Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands have already voted. The Czech Republic started voting Friday and continues Saturday. Slovakia, Malta and Latvia are holding their European Parliament elections Saturday — and all the other nations vote Sunday. </s> • Europeans from 21 countries have started voting on the fourth and final day of the EU parliamentary elections.
• The results should be clear late on Sunday, with exit polls in Germany expected at 1600 UTC.
• The Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia have already voted.

07:45 The election will hopefully strengthen anti-immigration political forces across Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after casting his vote in Budapest. "I hope that there will be a shift in the European public arena in favour of those political parties who would like to stop migration."

07:15 Support for the Green Party surged in Ireland — where the vote was held on Friday — putting the Greens on course to win as many as three European seats, according to an exit poll for broadcasters RTE/TG4. European Greens co-lead candidate Bas Eickhout spoke of a "green wave" rolling on to Irish shores from the Netherlands, where an exit poll put GroenLinks' (GreenLeft's) share of the vote up to 10.5%.

06:40 The European Parliament forms the democratic basis of the European Union. It plays a key role in electing the president of the European Commission and ensures EU institutions are working democratically. The Parliament shares power over the bloc's budget and legislation with the Council of the European Union, which represents the governments of member states. Elections to the Parliament take place every five years and voter turnout has been steadily declining. In 2014 it was the lowest ever — just 42.5%.

06:25 Around 400 million people are eligible to vote for 751 MEPs who will serve for the next five years and help shape Europe’s future. There's a lot at stake. The issues of Brexit, immigration and the rise of right-wing parties across the bloc could bring some surprises and make these polls the most important since the first direct elections 40 years ago.

06:00 Polling stations in 21 EU countries, including major EU states of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland, have opened.

Read more: EU election: Europeans head to the polls across the continent

Voting is also taking place in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden.

The Netherlands and the UK headed to the EU polls on Thursday — the first day of election — followed by Ireland and the Czech Republic on Friday and Latvia, Malta and Slovakia on Saturday.

A total of 420 million EU citizens are eligible to cast their ballot in these elections.

According to exit polls, the Netherlands' center-left party of EU Vice President Frans Timmermans won the most votes and added two seats to the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) bloc in the EU Parliament.

In Britain, hundreds of non-British EU citizens were turned away from polling stations on Thursday after being told they were not registered to vote in the UK for the election. The British government is now facing a potential legal challenge over the denial of votes to EU citizens.

As Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland send almost half of all MEPs to the European Parliament – 348 out of a total 751 – the Sunday vote is dubbed the most crucial of all rounds. Opinion polls suggest that far-right groups and Euroskeptics could gain more strength in the European Parliament, with populist parties such as Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France and Matteo Salvini's Northern League in Italy are expected to perform well in the polls.

Read more: Opinion: The EU's future and the European Parliament vote </s> BRUSSELS (AP) — Voters in Slovakia, Malta, Latvia and the Czech Republic are casting ballots Saturday in European Parliament elections.

The stakes for the European Union are especially high in this year's selections, which are taking place over four days and involve all 28 EU nations.

Many predict nationalists and far-right groups will gain ground, and would try to use a larger presence in the legislature to claw back power from the EU for their national governments.

Moderate parties, on the other hand, want to cement closer ties among countries in the EU, which was created in the wake of World War II to prevent renewed conflict.

Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands have already voted, and the Czech Republic started voting Friday and continues Saturday.

Slovakia, Malta and Latvia are holding their European Parliament elections Saturday — and all the other nations vote Sunday.

Official results will only be released Sunday night, after all countries have voted.

Voting in the Netherlands may have already produced a surprise. An Ipsos exit poll forecast a win for the Dutch Labor Party, and predicted that pro-European parties would win most of the Netherlands' seats in the European Parliament, instead of right-wing populist opponents.

Overall, the European Parliament's traditional political powerhouses are expected to come out with the most votes. But the center-right European People's Party and the center-left Socialists & Democrats look set to lose some clout and face their strongest challenge yet from an array of populist, nationalist and far-right parties skeptical of the EU.

Those parties hope to emulate what President Donald Trump did in the 2016 U.S. election and what Brexiteers achieved in the U.K. referendum to leave the EU: to disrupt what they see as an out-of-touch elite and gain power by warning about migrants massing at Europe's borders ready to rob the continent of its jobs and culture.

The traditional parties warn that this strategy is worryingly reminiscent of pre-war tensions, and argue that unity is the best buffer against the shifting economic and security challenges posed by a China and U.S.-dominated new world order.

Voters across Europe are electing 751 lawmakers, although that number is set to drop to 705 when Britain eventually leaves the EU. Each EU nation gets a number of seats in the EU parliament based on its population.

The legislature affects Europeans' daily lives in many ways: cutting smartphone roaming charges, imposing safety and health rules for industries ranging from chemicals and energy to autos and food, supporting farming, and protecting the environment.

For more news from The Associated Press on the European Parliament elections go to https://www.apnews.com/EuropeanParliament </s> BRUSSELS (AP) — Voters in Slovakia, Malta, Latvia and the Czech Republic are casting ballots Saturday in European Parliament elections.

The stakes for the European Union are especially high in this year’s selections, which are taking place over four days and involve all 28 EU nations.

Many predict nationalists and far-right groups will gain ground, and would try to use a larger presence in the legislature to claw back power from the EU for their national governments.

Moderate parties, on the other hand, want to cement closer ties among countries in the EU, which was created in the wake of World War II to prevent renewed conflict.

Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands have already voted, and the Czech Republic started voting Friday and continues Saturday.

Slovakia, Malta and Latvia are holding their European Parliament elections Saturday — and all the other nations vote Sunday.

Official results will only be released Sunday night, after all countries have voted.

Voting in the Netherlands may have already produced a surprise. An Ipsos exit poll forecast a win for the Dutch Labor Party, and predicted that pro-European parties would win most of the Netherlands’ seats in the European Parliament, instead of right-wing populist opponents.

Overall, the European Parliament’s traditional political powerhouses are expected to come out with the most votes. But the center-right European People’s Party and the center-left Socialists & Democrats look set to lose some clout and face their strongest challenge yet from an array of populist, nationalist and far-right parties skeptical of the EU.

Those parties hope to emulate what President Donald Trump did in the 2016 U.S. election and what Brexiteers achieved in the U.K. referendum to leave the EU: to disrupt what they see as an out-of-touch elite and gain power by warning about migrants massing at Europe’s borders ready to rob the continent of its jobs and culture.

The traditional parties warn that this strategy is worryingly reminiscent of pre-war tensions, and argue that unity is the best buffer against the shifting economic and security challenges posed by a China and U.S.-dominated new world order.

Voters across Europe are electing 751 lawmakers, although that number is set to drop to 705 when Britain eventually leaves the EU. Each EU nation gets a number of seats in the EU parliament based on its population.

The legislature affects Europeans’ daily lives in many ways: cutting smartphone roaming charges, imposing safety and health rules for industries ranging from chemicals and energy to autos and food, supporting farming, and protecting the environment.

For more news from The Associated Press on the European Parliament elections go to https://www.apnews.com/EuropeanParliament
Citizens in Latvia, Malta, Slovakia and the French overseas territories head to the polls to vote in the latest European Parliament election. Additionally, voting in the Czech Republic continues for the second day.