Dutch far-right comes out top in EU vote, as progressives overperform

5 months ago 17

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News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

The Netherlands is famous for having a large number of political parties that split the vote between them, and this election was no different. [EPA-EFE/Remko de Waal]

Geert Wilders’ far-right PVV (ID) has come out as the largest single party as it grabbed six seats in the European Parliament, though the nine seats won by the Frans Timmermans-Bas Eickhout double-team cements them as the main opposition force in the country.

The Netherlands is famous for having a large number of political parties that split the vote between them, and this election was no different.

Among these, three potential parties will be heading to Brussels under the EPP banner alone: the Christian Democrats (CDA), the Nieuw Social Contract (NSC) and the infamous farmers’ party, the BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer Citizens’ Movement, BBB).

Meanwhile, the left-of-centre and right-of-centre liberals (D66 & VVD) scored three and four seats, respectively, and the Party for the Animals also gets to send one MEP to Brussels.

A notable addition to the Dutch MEPs will be two MEPs from the Federalist Volt party. They will fly under a standard European banner with their German colleagues.

For Volt, this represents an unprecedentedly strong performance, even though overall numbers remain low, Euractiv reported earlier during election night.

(Chris Powers| Euractiv.com)