EU election exit poll: Far-right Wilders makes big gains in Netherlands, but narrowly beaten
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, Politico reports.
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.
