EU election exit poll: Far-right Wilders makes
big gains in Netherlands, but narrowly beaten
Poll suggests Wilders’ party on track for seven seats
in European Parliament, but Labor-Green alliance is set for eight.
JUNE 6,
2024 9:38 PM CET
BY EVA
HARTOG AND KOEN VERHELST
UTRECHT,
Netherlands — Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders’ party appears to have made
big gains in the European Parliament election but still looks set to be
narrowly beaten into second place, according to an exit poll published on
Thursday.
Wilders’
Party for Freedom (PVV) won no seats in 2019 but now looks set for seven of the
31 places allocated to the Netherlands in the 720-seat European Parliament,
according to pollster Ipsos I&O.
That puts
the PVV just behind a Labor-Green alliance, on eight seats.
“We are by
far the largest winner this evening,” Wilders told journalists, expressing his
hope that the PVV could still come out on top once official results are
announced on June 9, after all 27 member countries have cast their votes.
“It is a
beautiful result.”
That same
elation also predominated at an electoral event held by Wilders’ Labor-Green
rivals in the city of Utrecht attended by POLITICO, where the exit poll results
elicited cheers.
In their
campaigns, both Wilders and his rivals had framed Thursday’s vote as decisive
for the future of the EU, infusing urgency into a vote traditionally
pooh-poohed by many Dutch citizens.
Although
not final, the Dutch result is seen as a barometer of what might await the bloc
next. The far right is expected to notch up big wins in France and Italy, and
could well come second in Germany.
The
figureheads on the left — Green member of European Parliament Bas Eickhout and
national alliance leader Frans Timmermans — immediately pointed out the
resonance of the exit poll to the rest of the bloc.
“Counting
all the seats of pro-European parties, we tell the rest of Europe: It’s not a
given that the radical right is going to win these elections!” Timmermans, the
EU’s former climate chief, said. “Look what the Netherlands did: Do the same!”
he added.
But despite
the left’s cheers after a nerve-wracking day, the exit poll results are a
confirmation of a predicted far-right surge, which could impact areas such as
asylum and migration, as well as climate policy.
It also
confirms an upward streak for Wilders, who upset the Dutch political landscape
by coming first in a national election last November, and marks a stark
contrast with the last European election in 2019 when his party failed to
secure even a single seat.
According
to Ipsos I&O, turnout was 47 percent, a five-percentage point increase
compared to last election. Timmermans hailed that participation at the Utrecht
event as the “highest turnout since the fall of the Wall.”
The
center-right party of outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte (People’s Party for
Freedom and Democracy, or VVD) is expected to win four seats, losing one.
Wilders’
smaller coalition allies, the right-wing populist Farmer Citizen Movement
(BBB), and centrist New Social Contract (NSC), both newcomers to the European
arena, also appear to have both managed to clinch seats, with two and one
respectively.
“And of
course, I’m also very happy with the good result of the other pro-European
parties,” Timmermans stressed, before congratulating Wilders with his surge in
seats.
In
Brussels, the PVV faces a balancing act between its pledge to “hollow out
Europe from within” and the diplomacy needed to deliver large promises outlined
in a new government proposal led by Wilders.
That
includes an opt-out on Europe’s migration rules and a softening of
environmental targets.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário