BRUSSELS: Center-right parties hailed European Parliament election victories as a continent-wide vote for conservative approaches to the economic crisis and pledged yesterday to forge ahead.

Right-leaning governments came out ahead in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties won in Britain and Spain.

Many Socialists ran campaigns that slammed center-right leaders for failing to rein in financial markets and spend enough to stimulate faltering economies. But voters did not embrace their cause.