Greens snatch EU seat by 453 votes
Former Swedish parliament member Max Andersson will be the fourth Green, after the Greens just managed to snatch the last seat from the Social Democrats, thanks to Sweden’s form of proportional representation.
He says to newspaper Aftonbladet that he wants to focus on climate change policy, plus fill the Pirate Party’s empty shoes by working for better IT-policy, and he also wants to “take back power from the EU.”
This result brings the Social Democrats down to five seats in the EU Parliament. Their share of the vote fell slightly, compared to the last EU election in 2009, whereas the Greens rose to become the second-biggest party, on 15 percent.
The total turnout for Sweden is now just over 51 percent, higher than the government’s target of 50 percent, and up 5.5 percentage points from last EU election. Sweden is unusual among EU countries in having a growing number of EU election voters.
The official result has not yet been finalised, but that is due to take place during Friday.
Related stories from around the Arctic:
Canada: Canadian Inuit blast ruling on continued EU seal ban as ‘morally reprehensible’, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Broad backing for climate protection law in Finland, Yle News
Sweden: What do Sweden’s political parties think about the environment?, Radio Sweden
United States: Eroding Alaska village urges Congress to address climate change, Alaska Dispatch
