Swedish pro-EU parties risk losing seats in new European Parliament

6 months ago 34

Several of Sweden’s centre and centre-right parties from the pro-EU ruling coalition are on course to lose their seats in the European Parliament ahead of June’s European elections, a new poll shows.

According to a Verian poll published on Sunday, the European elections are proving more complicated than expected for members of the governing centre-right coalition of Liberals (Renew Europe) and Christian Democrats (EPP), as well as the opposition Centre Party (Renew Europe).

The Liberals, who present themselves as the most pro-European party, have only 3.7% support in the first voter barometer for the 2024 EU elections – a figure below the 4% threshold to enter the EU parliament, according to the new poll.

“It will take a good election campaign for the Liberals to get an MEP,” Per Söderpalm, opinion manager at Verian, told the Swedish press on Sunday.

The Liberals currently have only one MEP, Karin Karlsbro, who found herself at the centre of the 2022 turmoil when her party signed a government agreement with the far-right Sweden Democrats (ECR) in the wake of the national elections.

In protest, a French Renew Europe MEP moved to the left and joined the S&D group.

Renew Europe later voiced its concerns, while the Swedish Liberal Party, a member of the liberal European ALDE party, was suspended from all activities within Renew Europe.

However, Liberals are not the only ones in danger of losing their seats in the European Parliament: their coalition allies, the Christian Democrats (EPP) and the opposition Centre Party (Renew Europe) are also in trouble, polling 4.2% and 4.5% respectively – just over half their result in the 2019 EU elections.

At a time when far-right parties in Europe are gaining more ground in the polls ahead of the European elections, the Sweden Democrats, currently at 17%, is polling lower than at the last national elections in 2022, to the benefit of parties that are either in the minority in parliament or not represented at all.

These include, for example, the Swedish Green Party and the Left Party, which have strong support with 9.5% and 8.8%, respectively.

Several parties with no members in the Swedish parliament are on a roll with 4.2%, including the rising pro-Swexit party of Christian Democrat MEP Sara Skyttedal.

(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)