An alliance of the Labour Party and the Green Left (PvdA/GroenLinks) claimed victory in the European Parliament elections in the Netherlands, according to exit polls on Thursday.
A total of 497 candidates, including eight of Turkish origin, from 20 different parties competed for 31 seats in the election. Voting started at 7:30 a.m. local time and ended at 9 p.m. However, final results are scheduled to be announced on the evening of 9 June, after the conclusion of voting in all EU member states.
The official results will be announced on 19 June.
According to an exit poll conducted by public broadcaster NOS and research firm Ipsos, turnout stood at around 47 per cent of the 13 million eligible voters. This marks a notable increase from the previous European Parliament elections in 2019, when turnout was around 42 per cent.
The Labour Party and the Green Left alliance won eight seats, whereas the Freedom Party (PVV), led by Geert Wilders, seemed to fall short of expectations. The PVV, which was leading in the last general election on 22 November, slipped to second place in the European Parliament elections. Exit polls suggest that the party will send seven MPs to the European Parliament.
The elections, which began in the Netherlands on Thursday, will continue on Friday in Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Estonia.
Meanwhile, Wilders expressed a desire to form a joint European faction with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni‘s Fratelli d’Italia, leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, and the Rassemblement National of Marine Le Pen, leader of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, according to Euractiv.
