In Finland, left wing makes major gains as far-right declines in European elections

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) — Left-wing parties in Finland won big in last week's European Parliament elections at the expense of right-wing nationalists, preliminary results showed Monday.

This comes despite a surge in support for far-right parties in other parts of the EU, with the Left Alliance party making massive gains of 10.4 points compared to the last European elections in 2019. The socialist party took 17.3% of the vote, securing three out of Finland's 15 seats in the EU legislature.

"It feels like I'm in some type of shock. I couldn't be happier," party leader Li Andersson told public broadcaster YLE.

The National Coalition Party, led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, still ended up with the most votes in the Nordic nation with 24.8%, claiming four seats.

In his victory speech, Orpo expressed pride in his party's standing, which he said showed it was "trusted as a representative of Finland in Europe, and that the National Coalition is also trusted to take care of Finnish business inside Finland."

Meanwhile, the far-right Finns Party was down by a staggering 6.2 points, leaving them with just 7.6% support and one seat instead of their previous two, said the broadcaster.

For its part, the Greens retained their two spots in the European Parliament, as did the Centre Party and Social Democratic Party.

Turnout in Finland was at 42.4%, well down from presidential elections earlier this year and parliamentary polls in 2023.

European voters went to the polls on June 6-9 in 27 members of the EU. A total of 720 deputies were elected for a five-year term, 15 more than the previous elections in 2019.