The European elections officially begin. The polls will open at 7.00 today, May 23 in the Netherlands and in the United Kingdom. Tomorrow, May 24, it will be Ireland's turn, while on May 25 Slovakia, Latvia and Malta will vote. All the other member states, including Italy, will arrive on 26 May.
Needless to say today Europe's eyes are fixed on the United Kingdom. The Premier, Theresa May, tried in every way to prevent the British from participating in the European vote, but in the end she was forced to capitulate. Brexit appears to be further away than ever and, at least for a few more months, Her Majesty's country will still be an integral part of the Union and as such you will have to be called upon to participate in elections.
The United Kingdom will have to elect 73 MEPs that, when and if Brexit comes, they will give up their seats. The seats will then be divided among the other 27 member states (3 will go to Italy). According to the latest polls, incredibly, to obtain the highest number of votes - we are talking about almost 30 percent of the preferences - should be the Nigel Farage's Brexit Party (one of the supporters of the 2016 Referendum and symbolic face of the leave). Jeremy Corbyn's Labor Party follows at 23%.
Projections predict a real debacle for Theresa Mat's Conservatives, who could be around 12%, even behind the Liberal Democrats.
Moving to Amsterdam, the Dutch will be called upon to elect 26 MEPs through a proportional electoral system which provides for preferential votes within the lists. Unlike Italy, there is no barrier threshold. According to polls it should prevail Thierry Baudet's Eurosceptic FvD party, with 18% of the vote, (5-6 seats) ahead of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Popular Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), still holding 15% of the vote (4-5 seats). At 11% the Greens of GroenLinks (3-4 seats), while Christian Democrats (Cda) and Labor Party (PvdA) should reach 9-10%, (2-3 seats).
