Following the European elections the next parliament will prepare to welcome a host of newcomers with colourful biographies and forthright opinions, as well as an all too familiar face …

Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Lithuania

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The former basketball player Sarunas Marčiulionis is also known for this ‘euro step’ move. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/AP

Marčiulionis may be a newcomer to the world of European politics, but the 54-year-old already has plenty of experience sidestepping opponents. A former basketball star elected as an MEP in Lithuania, he is credited with bringing the “euro step” move to the NBA, whereby a dribbling player sells a dummy to his defender with a quick change of direction.

Marčiulionis, one of the first European players to gain fame in US and a gold medal winner with the USSR team at the 1988 Olympics, will represent his native country’s Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, though he is not a party member. The conservative environmentalist party gained 12% of the vote on Sunday. [See Footnote]

Sarah Wiener, Austria

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sarah Wiener decided to run only after the Austrian Green party asked for help. Photograph: Dirk Pagels/sulupress.de

A celebrity TV chef with strong views ranging from pesticide bans to sustainable farming will boost the growing Green party bloc in Brussels. Wiener was raised in Vienna but made her career with a series of successful restaurants and museum bistros in Berlin. The 56-year-old has also been increasingly active as a campaigner since 2007, taking a leading role in an initiative against genetically modified food and setting up a foundation to increase healthy eating among children and teenagers. Nonetheless, she admitted she only decided to run as an MEP when Austria’s struggling Green party asked for her help after they failed to get elected into the national parliament in 2017.

Nico Semsrott, Germany

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nico Semsrott (right) and Die Partei’s leader, Martin Sonneborn. Photograph: DPA Picture Alliance/Alamy Stock Photo

Semsrott calls himself “the saddest comedian in the world”, hides his pale face under a black hoodie, and listed his profession on German ballot papers as “demotivation coach”. Over the next five years, however, he will take a seat in the European parliament for Die Partei, a satirical outfit which managed to boost its share of the vote to 2.4% and outperformed the governing Social Democrats among first-time voters.

Most of the policies Die Partei advocate in their manifesto are overtly dada-esque nonsense, such as banning people from voting for the last 18 years of their lives, or taking away the driving licenses of climate-change deniers. ince the party’s leader and former journalist Martin Sonneborn gained a seat in Brussels five years ago, the party has grown more serious, recently releasing a disturbing campaign video made by the refugee rescue organisation Sea Watch.

Katalin Cseh, Hungary

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Katalin Cseh celebrates her victory at Momentum’s campaign headquarters. Photograph: Tibor Illyes/EPA

Cseh, a 30-year-old Canadian-born doctor, will take up one of the two seats won by Hungary’s Momentum, a party founded in 2015 on a shoestring budget by a group of politically active twenty-somethings. It exceeded all expectations, gaining 10% of the vote in Hungary by campaigning on a platform of a more federalised Europe based on liberal, tolerant values. Cseh has said Viktor Orbán’s government has campaigned on scare tactics over migration while ignoring things that matter to ordinary Hungarians, such as health and education.

Ivan Sinčić, Croatia

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ivan Sinčić’s Human Shield party has pushed conspiracy theories about chemtrails and vaccinations. Photograph: Alen Gurovic/Alamy Stock Photo

A 28-year-old populist and controversialist, Sinčić will become the first MEP for Croatia’s Human Shield party, which has praised the writings of David Icke, who believes that the earth has been hijacked by reptilian beings. The party has also pushed a number of conspiracy theories about chemtrails and vaccinations. The party says it adheres to humanist social policies and is in favour of legalising marijuana. Sinčić started out as an activist protesting against property evictions and believes in abolishing private banks.

He got 16% of the vote in the 2014 Croatian presidential election, coming third, and is also an MP in the Croatian parliament, from where he and party colleagues have on occasion been removed by police for causing disruption.

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi was ejected from the national parliament in 2013 after being convicted of tax fraud. Photograph: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

In another sign of his startling capacity for comebacks, Italy’s scandal-tainted former prime minister has re-entered the European parliament at the age of 82. His election campaign was disrupted by emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction in April, leading him to fear that he had “reached the end of the line”, but he was soon back in action, wooing loyal supporters with talk of lowering taxes and animal rights.

His ultimate goal is returning to the Italian parliament. He was ejected in 2013 and banned from running for office for six years because of a tax fraud conviction.