Enlarged European Union Elects Parliament

Prime Minister Tony Blair counted the electoral cost of going to war in Iraq in Thursday's European and local British elections, and Dutch opposition parties critical of the war scored gains in the race for European Parliament. The war, along with domestic issues, weighed on voters' minds as the 25 nations of the recently expanded European Union began a four-day series of elections for the European Parliament. "Iraq and the worries over Iraq have been a shadow over our support but in the end you have to take decisions that are right and you have to see them through," Blair told reporters at a G-8 summit on Sea Island, Ga. His governing Labour Party is expected to fare badly in the polls. Ireland and the Czech Republic will vote for the European Parliament on Friday but most of the 25 EU nations are waiting until Sunday. In the Netherlands, unofficial results with most of the EU parliament vote counted showed strong gains for leftist opposition parties and losses for the conservative parties in the Dutch coalition government. Taking advantage of anti-war sentiment among the Dutch people, the opposition made Iraq a campaign issue as the government weighs whether to extend the mandate of nearly 1,400 Dutch troops in Iraq. The mandate expires July 15. Also, the new Transparent Europe party of whistleblower Paul van Buitenen won two of the 27 Dutch EU seats. Van Buitenen's claims of mismanagement in Brussels in 1998 led to the resignation of the entire European Commission.