Several centre-right and centrist parties in Sweden’s ruling pro-EU coalition could lose their seats in the European Parliament ahead of June’s European elections, Euractiv reports.
European elections are proving more difficult than expected for members of the ruling centre-right coalition of the Liberals (Renew Europe) and the Christian Democrats (EPP) as well as the opposition Centre Party (Renew Europe), a Verian poll published on Sunday showed.
The Liberals, who present themselves as the most pro-European party, received support of only 3.7 per cent in the first electoral barometer for the 2024 EU elections, below the 4 per cent threshold for getting into the EU parliament, according to the new poll. Per Söderpalm, opinion manager at Verian, told the Swedish press on Sunday:
“It will take a good election campaign for the Liberals to get an MEP.”
The Liberals currently have only one MEP, Karin Karlsbro, who found herself at the centre of the 2022 upheaval when her party signed a government agreement with the far-right Sweden Democrats (S&D) after national elections. In protest, the French MEP for Renew Europe switched to the left and joined the S&D group.
Renew Europe later expressed its concerns and the Swedish Liberal Party, a member of the liberal European party ALDE, was suspended from any activity within Renew Europe.
But it is not only the Liberals who are at risk 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 a dismal position, with 4.2 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively – just over half their result in the 2019 EU elections.
While far-right parties in Europe are gaining ground in the polls in the run-up to the European elections, the Sweden Democrats, currently gaining 17%, have lower numbers than they did in the last national election in 2022, favouring parties that are either in a 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 without members in the Swedish parliament gain 4.2 per cent, including the growing party of Svexit supporters of Christian Democrats MEP Sara Skyttedal.
