Three separate exit polls all confirm the Liberal democratic party D66 is the big winner in the Dutch European elections and that Geert Wilders’ anti-EU PVV was dealt a major blow.

Although the real results will not be published until Sunday, the definitive exit poll from broadcaster Nos says the strongly pro-EU D66 and the Christian Democrats would both win four seats, while the PVV’s support would go down from five to three.

The pro-animal PvdD and the older voters’ party 50Plus will also win their first seats in the European parliament, the Nos poll shows.

De Hond

An exit poll published by the Maurice de Hond polling organisation came up with slightly different percentage votes but the same pattern of seats in Brussels. It was based on the results at 150 polling stations.

And efforts by shock blog GeenStijl to come up with a more accurate forecast – based on the actual results at nearly 1,300 polling stations – suggest a similar outcome, but predict five rather than four seats for D66.

GeenStijl had readers posted at 1,278 polling stations to record the votes as announced and then compiled its own forecasts. The real Dutch results will not be published until late on Sunday night, after the rest of Europe has voted.

Turnout

Wilders, who had been expected to challenge D66 for the top spot with his ‘leave the EU message’, put his defeat down to the low turnout, which was around 35-37%. The results, said Wilders, did not prove the Netherlands had become more ‘Europhile’ because so many people had not voted.

By contrast, D66 leader Alexander Pechtold described his party’s victory as a sign that the Netherlands had voted for Europe.

Foreign media also forecast that Wilders’ defeat may hamper his efforts to form an anti-EU alliance within the European parliament.

Tensions

The Financieele Dagblad reports that the results will increase tensions within the coalition government, even though both the right-wing Liberal VVD and the Labour party seem set to retain their three seats. But D66’s strong performance reinforces its position as a key government ally, the paper says.

D66 and the two minor Christian parties have an informal alliance with the government to ensure policy gets through the upper house of parliament.

In addition, the gains for 50Plus and the PvdD highlight the further splintering of the Dutch political landscape, the paper says.