In a rare twist of fate, both leaders of the left-wing party GroenLinks-PvdA and the ring-wing PVV (Frans Timmermans and Geert Wilders, respectively) reported big wins at the exit polls for the European Parliament elections.
With eight seats, Frans Timmermans’ GroenLinks-PvdA is the current largest party in last night’s Dutch exit poll, reports RTL Nieuws.
However, Wilders’ PVV also scored a respectable seven seats — six more than they held in the now-outgoing European Parliament.
The results aren’t final
In a celebratory post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Wilders writes that he hopes his party “can still become the biggest when the final results are announced on Sunday”.
According to the BBC, European law dictates that final results cannot be released until each country has voted — which means that this Sunday evening could offer a different story.
GroenLinks-PvdA’s Timmermans remains confident, stressing that although things “could be different on Sunday”, the Netherlands is “not Wilders country”.
He notes that Wilders’ PVV may have attracted many voters, but the left-wing win means that the majority “does not have to look [to] the radical right” for answers.
As reported in AD, a source within GroenLinks-PvdA also hopes that the Netherlands’ left-wing triumph will give progressive EU voters greater encouragement at the polls.
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