MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2019) The Dutch Labour Party came first in the elections on Thursday to determine who the country will send to the European Parliament, according to an exit poll.
The party is expected to get five of the 26 seats after receiving 18.1 percent of the vote, the Ipsos exit poll seen by the NL Times news website predicted.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democratic Appeal are tied in the second place and are each projected to claim four seats.
The right-wing Forum for Democracy and GreenLeft are set to gain three seats each, while liberal Democrats 66 and the orthodox protestant Christian Union-Reformed Political Party are both expected to have two.
The nationalist Party for Freedom (PVV), the Socialist Party and the pro-pensioner 50Plus are expected to take one seat each.
These are the first results of the highly-anticipated European elections. The United Kingdom is expected to post early returns sometime tonight. Ireland will vote on Friday. Cyprus, Malta, Latvia and Slovakia will cast their ballots on Saturday. The Czech Republic will be voting the entire weekend, but the rest EU countries have their election day on Sunday.
