Greens win in Dutch and Belgium Elections

Good news from the Greens in the Low Countries: the Flemish, Walloon and Dutch Green parties all did well in the elections.

Dutch GroenLinks was rewarded with three extra seats in Parliament (out of 150). Party leader Femke Halsema presented her and the party as “ready to govern.” GroenLinks has been in opposition since its institution. Flemish Groen! won 1 extra seat, while it opposed separatist sentiments in Flanders. Ecolo was also very pleased with its results. It was able to maintain its seats and it will become third party in the Senate.

In the Dutch as well as the Flemish elections new rightwing parties won. In the Netherlands the Partij van de Vrijheid is known for his extreme anti-Islam standpoints. Its leader Geert Wilders suggested in Parliament that women with headscarfs should pay extra taxes. He got 1.5 million votes, 25 seats in Parliament (out of 150).

While in the Netherlands Geert Wilders got rewarded for his fight against the tsunami of “Islamisation,” Flanders had its own political tsunami. N-VA, as a partner with CD&V, won 13% in the elections of 2009. Last Sunday no less than 29% of the electorate rewarded them with their vote. N-VA campaigned for a confederal Belgium. Currently Belgium is a federation. N-VA is part of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament as member of EFA.