Pro-Europe D-66 and Greens gain in Dutch EU-Parliamentary elections as does radical right-wing party of Geert Wilders

EU-Digest

Pro-Europe D-66 and Greens gain in Dutch EU-Parliamentary elections as does the radical right-wing party of Geert Wilders

The pro Europe D-66 and Groen Links (Greens) where among the major winners of the European parliamentary elections which kicked off in the Netherlands and Britain yesterday and will be held throughout the 27 member EU member states until June 7. Over 375 million people are eligible to take part in the elections, which will roll out across Europe. Most of the 27 EU nations vote on Sunday. The success of these biggest-ever transnational elections is feared to be tempered by voter worries about national economic troubles rather than European perspectives. As a result, extremist anti-EU right-and possibly also some left-wing parties hope to pick up votes. Mario Telo, who heads the European Studies Institute at Brussels Free University, said: "This risk exists, as it did in the 1930s, even if the difference is that the extreme right will not have a direct political impact, but the trend "will show that the national political crisis is dire. Corruption, scandals and the quest for scapegoats risk bogging down European democracies, which will have to find the strength to react." The Dutch results also show that the Christian Democrats (CDA) of Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende remained the leading party of the Netherlands, even though they lost two of their 7 European Parliamentary seats.

Despite the economic crisis the European People's Party -- an umbrella group for center-right parties from across the EU -- is set to remain the biggest political bloc in the parliament with 262 seats. The Socialists are expected to remain in second place with 194 seats. Cyprus, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia will go to the polls on Saturday before Europe's Super Sunday, when the other 19 EU nations -- including France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- round off the voting.