As the European Parliament elections unfold, it is now the turn of Czech citizens to cast their votes.
The Czech Republic stands out as one of the two European Union nations conducting the ballot over two days. Polling stations will remain open until 10pm on June 7 and will reopen on June 8 from 8am until 2pm.
Czech voters have a choice among 30 political parties fighting for 21 seats in the European Parliament.
This year turnout is anticipated to be notably low, reflecting the trend from the 2019 EP elections.
In those, fewer than a third of eligible Czech voters participated.
According to the latest polls, the centrist ANO movement of former prime minister Andrej Babis is in the lead, ahead of a centre-right coalition led by current Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
Key issues dominating the campaign were migration, the war in Ukraine and concerns over “foreign interference”.
As Czech voters head to the polls, Fiala said his Conservative alliance would tackle any “security threats” from Russia and China.
SPOLU posílíme bezpečnost Evropy proti hrozbám z Ruska a Číny.
— Petr Fiala (@P_Fiala) June 7, 2024
In Finland, the government released the figures for Finns abroad voting, which they were able to do between May 29 and June 1.
Some 15,221 of the 263,000 Finns residing overseas cast their votes over the period, with advance voting possible at 166 polling stations in 86 countries. Similar arrangements were made for those on board 44 Finnish vessels at sea.
Brussels, Stockholm and London were the busiest polling stations for Finns abroad, with the countries with the highest increase in participation being Australia, the Netherlands and Norway.
Over the course of the European Parliament vote, the largest transnational election in the world, 720 MEPs will be picked.
Most countries in the 27-nation EU will vote on the last day of the contest, June 9.
Brussels Signal will be reporting the results live, with special midday election programming set to air on our YouTube channel from June 10 to June 14.
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In this post, we explain how many members each European country will elect in the coming days.
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