According to findings by the company Ipsos I&O, in the Netherlands the centre-left coalition led by former Commission vice president Frans Timmermans should be first with eight seats. Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) follows with seven
The Labour-Green coalition led by Frans Timmermans is ahead of the far right of Geert Wilders in the European elections in the countries. According to the first exit polls, in fact, the pro-European alliance would obtain 8 seats compared to the 7 assigned to the Party for Freedom (PVV). The first exit polls therefore seem to go against the trend of the previous polls. For Wilders, who obtained 0 seats in 2019, it is in any case a clear victory compared to five years ago.
Four seats for Rutte’s liberals, three for the Board of Directors
According to these initial findings, the right-wing liberals of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, now led by Dilan Yesilgoz, follow with 4 seats. According to the exit polls, the Christian Democrats (CDA) would gain 3 seats on a par with the left-wing liberals (D66), 2 seats instead for the Peasants’ Movement (BBB), and one seat each for Pieter Omtzigt’s centrists, Wilders’ government allies, and the Forum for Democracy (FvD) led by populist leader Thierry Baudet.
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Wilders: “We are the big winners, up to 7 seats in the EU”
The leader of the ultra-right, Geert Wilders, after the release of the first results, wanted to thank the voters with a message on social media. “The Freedom Party is the biggest winner! 1 to 7 seats in the exit polls. It’s super exciting because we can still become the biggest when the final results are announced on Sunday!”, he wrote on X.
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Wilders, the right-wing extremist who won the elections in Holland
Turnout at 44%
Voter turnout in the Netherlands was 44%. Ipsos always indicates this, communicating its preliminary estimate on the data collected up to half an hour before the polls closed. This is a higher percentage than the 2019 European elections, when just under 42% of voters went to the polls. The highest European turnout rate in the Netherlands was achieved in 1979: that year it was possible to vote for the European Parliament for the first time and 58% of citizens exercised their right to vote.
