NZZ Online: In Grossbritannien und den Niederlanden haben die Wahlen zum Europaparlament begonnen. Rechtsextremisten wie die holländische Freiheitspartei und die British National Party können mit beträchtlichem Zulauf rechnen.
Zum Auftakt der Europawahl in den 27 Ländern der EU galt es als sicher, dass die anti-islamische Freiheitspartei (PVV) des Filmemachers Geert Wilders erstmals Abgeordnete nach Strassburg schicken wird.
Bei seiner Stimmabgabe sagte Wilders am Donnerstag in Den Haag, die Türkei sollte auch in Millionen Jahren kein Mitglied der EU werden. Zugleich wandte er sich gegen jede Mitwirkung der EU an der Einwanderungspolitik der Mitgliedsländer. Für die PVV werden laut Umfragen etwa 14 Prozent der Stimmen erwartet, womit die Anti-Islam-Partei ähnlich grosse Anteile erhalten könnte wie die etablierten Parteien der Christlichdemokraten und Sozialdemokraten. >>> | Donnerstag, 04. Juni 2009
FINANCIAL TIMES: European Elections Get Under Way
The European parliamentary elections got under way in the Netherlands and Britain on Thursday, with Geert Wilders, the Dutch anti-immigration politician, vowing to do his utmost to stop Turkey entering the European Union “in a million years”.
Smaller parties are expected to gain seats in the 736-seat chamber from bigger rivals in both countries, the first two nations to vote in pan-European polls that run until Sunday. Voters across the 27-nation bloc are expected to focus on unemployment and economic uncertainty in the poll.
In the Netherlands, Mr Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) is fielding its first candidates for the European parliament and has focused on a Eurosceptic call to “get money back” from Brussels and a firm no to Turkish aspirations of membership.
Judging by Dutch schoolchildren – one in five of whom voted for the PVV this week in a shadow election organised among 15,000 of them – he should do well.
“The message for Europeans is go and vote, vote against immigration, vote against the political elite, choose parties that really want to fight for the preservation of our freedom and our cultural identity,” the bleached blond Mr Wilders said after casting his vote in The Hague.
On the question of Turkish membership, he said the country should not be admitted “in 10 years, not in a million years. Turkey should never be allowed to join the European family”.
Although banned from travelling to the UK earlier this year, Mr Wilders, who controls nine of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament, is not as much of a pariah in domestic politics as other anti-immigration politicians are across Europe. >>> By Michael Steen in The Hague | Thursday, June 04, 2009
