In the European elections in the Netherlands, former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans narrowly defeated the populist Geert Wilders, according to a post-election survey. The Groenlinks/PvdA alliance of Timmermans’ Greens and Left Party won eight seats, while Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) won seven, according to the post-election survey conducted by broadcaster NOS on Thursday.
The Dutch were the first in the EU to cast their votes for the European Parliament. The final result and the results for the entire EU are not expected until Sunday evening, when the polling stations in Germany and the other EU countries have closed. The Netherlands will send 31 representatives to the 720-seat EU Parliament.
If the final result confirms the Green-Left alliance as the strongest force, this would be a success for Timmermans, who has been responsible for the EU’s “Green Deal” climate protection package since 2019. The PVV had been ahead in polls before the election. It emerged as the strongest force in the Dutch parliamentary elections in November.
Social Democrat Timmermans resigned from his post as Commission Vice-President and EU Climate Commissioner at the end of August in order to run as the lead candidate for an electoral alliance of Social Democrats and Greens in the early parliamentary elections in the Netherlands. However, his pro-European alliance performed disappointingly, although it was briefly ahead in opinion polls.
After the more than 13 million eligible voters in the Netherlands, people in Ireland and the Czech Republic are called to vote on Friday. Voting will continue in the Czech Republic from Saturday, and there will also be voting in Italy, Latvia, Slovakia, Malta and the French overseas territories. In Germany, as in most other EU countries, election day is Sunday, June 9.
Many Dutch people gathered outside the polling stations early. For engineer Claudia Balhuizen, who was one of the first to cast her vote in the capital The Hague, the climate crisis is one of the key issues in Europe. She is concerned that Wilders is becoming “more and more attractive to many people”. “We all have to wake up now,” she told the AFP news agency.
Wilders is sharply critical of the EU’s migration policy and wants to significantly limit the influx of asylum seekers and people seeking protection. Civil servant Simone Nieuwenhuys explained that she voted for Wilders because his party is “putting the brakes on” in Brussels. 29-year-old employee Robin Biersma, on the other hand, would like to see more European cooperation, for example in defense and the internal market.
According to the statistics office Eurostat, a good 360 million people are eligible to vote across Europe. Parliament President Roberta Metsola called on people to vote. “Don’t take Europe for granted,” she said in a video message on the online service X.
The European Parliament has had 705 members since Britain left the EU. After the elections in the 27 member states, the parliament is set to grow to 720 seats. Elections are held via national lists, although the major European parties have nominated EU-wide top candidates. Each country has a fixed number of members in parliament, which depends on the size of its population. Germany has the most seats, with 96.
For the Berlin traffic light coalition under Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), the election is seen as a mood test before the state elections in eastern Germany in the fall and the federal election in 2025. Opinion pollsters expect a setback for the SPD, Greens and FDP and gains for the CDU/CSU and the AfD. A shift to the right is expected across Europe.
In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) is likely to be the strongest force by some distance. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia, FdI) party can also expect gains.