Euro election at a glance 1/6/09

DAY IN A NUTSHELL

Slovakia's governing Smer party has called an extraordinary session of parliament, to discuss what it regards as a challenge to Slovakian sovereignty by Hungarian politician Viktor Orban. The Fidesz party leader said the European election would determine how many Hungarian MEPs would "represent Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin" - an area that includes Slovakia. An ethnic Hungarian leader from Slovakia, Pal Csaky, was with him at the rally, on the border between the two countries.

DAILY QUOTE

"The return in force of the Franco-German couple appears to be the event of these last days of campaigning."

(French centre-right daily Le Figaro, on joint appeal to voters by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.)

NEWS IN NUMBERS

The shadow of the EU's Lisbon Treaty looms large for recession-hit Irish voters, as the Republic of Ireland gears up for a second referendum, expected in October. The latest opinion poll, by TNS mrbi, finds that 54% would now vote Yes to Lisbon, an increase of two points since the last such poll two weeks ago, with 28% in the No camp. The "don't knows" were on 18%. Irish voters rejected the treaty in a referendum nearly a year ago.

Day at a glance 29 May 09

DAILY PICTURE

A nun studies election posters in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, which is mainly Roman Catholic.