The extreme right is losing strength in northern Europe. The Swedish Democrats and the Finnish Party, the second parliamentary forces in their respective countries, have obtained a much worse result in this Sunday’s European elections than expected and predicted by polls in recent weeks. The Social Democratic Party has been the most voted force in Sweden, the conservatives of the National Coalition have won in Finland, while the Green Left has surprised by obtaining the best result in Denmark.
Putting an end to an upward trend, the Swedish Democrats and the Finnish Party have obtained their worst result in a European or parliamentary election since 2014. The Swedish far-right formation, which in the 2022 general elections became the second force in Parliament — and the first on the right—supports the government coalition formed by the Moderates (conservatives), the liberals and the Christian Democrats. With 93% of the vote counted, it has garnered 13.2% of the votes, a slight drop compared to the European elections of 2019 (15.3%), but much sharper when compared to the parliamentary elections of less than two years ago. years, in which it added 20.5% of the support. The far-right party, which has improved its previous result in every parliamentary election held since 1988, is relegated to fourth place.
For its part, the Finns Party, which came very close to winning last year’s parliamentary elections, has plummeted to sixth place. The populist and anti-immigration party, which has been involved in various scandals since it became part of the coalition government last June, has added only 7.6% of the votes, a drop of six percentage points compared to 2019 ( 13.5%) and more than 12 points when compared to the parliamentary elections of April 2023. Even so, the Finnish Party will maintain one of the two MEPs it had.
Advancement of ecological forces
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The poor results of the extreme right in northern Europe contrasts with the advance of the environmentalist and more left-leaning formations. In Finland, with 100% of the vote counted, the Left Alliance is close to tripling the votes of the last European elections by achieving 17.4% of support and second position. The party led by Li Andersson, a 37-year-old former Minister of Education, achieved, by far, the best result in its history (in the 1995 parliamentary elections she received 11.2% of the votes). National Coalition, the conservative formation of Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo, remains the most voted force with 24.8% of the votes, an increase of about three points compared to the last European and parliamentary forces. The Social Democratic Party of former Prime Minister Sanna Marin is in third position with a result very similar to that of 2019 (14.9%). The two minority formations that govern together with the right and the extreme right have practically the same votes as in the last European elections: the Christian Democrats (4.2%, 0 seats) and the Swedish People’s Party of Finland (6.2%, 1 MEP).
In the case of Sweden, the Green Party is the one that emerges the most strengthened from this Sunday’s elections. The environmentalist party has risen to third position with 13.8%, an increase of more than two points compared to the last European elections. The environmentalists are ahead of the far-right Swedish Democrats and are only surpassed by the Moderates (17.6%) of the Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, and by the Social Democratic Party, which with 24.9% of support is once again the most voted force – as in all elections since 1914 – and slightly improves the results of 2019, although it falls almost five points compared to the parliamentary elections of 2022. The Left Party also notably improves its results, going from 6.8% obtained five years ago at 10.9%.
In Denmark, with all the votes counted, the Green Left, led by Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, 26, surprised this Sunday by becoming the most voted force in the Scandinavian country. The formation, formerly called the Popular Socialist Party, has garnered 17.4% of the votes – its best result in European or parliamentary elections – and has surpassed the Social Democrats (15.6%). Polls in recent weeks pointed to a victory for the Social Democratic Party of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who was attacked last Friday in the center of Copenhagen by a Polish citizen. Despite the fall, the social democratic formation will maintain the three MEPs it had, the same ones that the Green Left will obtain.
The liberal conservative party Venstre, winner of the elections in 2019, has been the big loser on election day in Denmark, falling from 23.5% to 14.7% of the votes. Two far-right parties, the Danish People’s Party and the Denmark Democrats, obtain representation in the European Parliament and each add between 6% and 7.5%.
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