Timmermans and Wilders both have something to celebrate on Dutch election night

Timmermans' GreenLeft-Labour alliance is set to win eight seats in the new European Parliament, while PVV and its leader Geert Wilders won seven.

Transcript

00:00 A shout of relief after the exit polls. The Green-Left Labour list in the Netherlands

00:07 is projected to send eight MEPs to Brussels. Geert Wilders` party for freedom and democracy

00:14 is expected to win seven seats.

00:16 Pro-European parties in the Netherlands did very well in this election, which sends a

00:21 clear signal to the rest of Europe there is no necessity to work with the radical right,

00:28 the assumption that the radical right would sweep this election is not materialized in

00:34 the Netherlands.

00:35 Though they campaigned together, these two parties belong to different European families.

00:40 Labour is part of the Socialists and Democrats and the Green-Left is part of the Greens.

00:46 Geert Wilders did not celebrate. During the party`s single campaign event, Wilders was

00:51 mobbed by supporters in the press.

00:53 The next coming days are crucial to the future of Europe. Will it be with more open borders

01:00 and immigration or will it be a lot tougher and with more, as I said, not an expansion

01:05 of the European Union, but returning to the capitals of the legislative powers and this

01:11 is something that we are aiming for.

01:13 The radical right party had always advocated for an exit, but changed course this year.

01:18 Wilders now says he wants to change the European Union from within and hopes to join the Identity

01:24 and Democracy Group.

01:26 Despite the campaign having little visibility in both the streets and the media, turnout

01:32 was 47 percent, the highest since 1989. Voters were mostly concerned about migration, health

01:39 care and the economy. The Netherlands will send 31 MEPs to Brussels. The final result

01:46 will only be known on Sunday evening.

01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]