The ruling Civic Platform (PO) party won a decisive victory in the European Parliament elections, taking 44.39 percent of votes and securing 25 seats in the EU's legislative body, according to preliminary results data announced by the National Election Commission.

According to this preliminary data, turnout in the amounted to 24.53 percent. That was an improvement over turnout in 2004, which stood at 20.9 percent, but still the third-lowest figure in the EU after Slovakia and Lithuania.

The major opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), obtained 27.41 percent of votes, which will give the party 15 seats. The only two other Polish groups to enter the European Parliament will be the left-wing SLD-UP coalition and the Polish People's Party, which secured 12.33 and 7.03 percent of votes, respectively, meaning seven and three EP seats.

Most of the major parties' leading candidates and favorites of pre-election polls made it to the European Parliament. Those include EC Commissioner for Regional Policy Danuta Hubner (PO) and former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro (PiS), who carried Warsaw and Kraków respectively, as well as current MEPs Jacek Saryusz-Wolski and Jerzy Buzek (both PO candidates), MP Jacek Kurski and former MEP and presidential spokesperson Michał Kamiński (both of PiS) and SLD's MEP Marek Siwiec and Wojciech Olejniczak, head of the party's parliamentary club.

One of the greatest surprises was Marian Krzaklewski, who ran on PO's candidate list but lost.