Sweden's Pirate Party Halfway to the European Parliament

A survey conducted by one of the largest Swedish newspapers shows that the Pirate Party will receive approximately 5.1% of the vote in the upcoming elections in the European Union. This means that the party, which received a huge increase in membership in connection with the case of the Pirate Bay, namely the conviction of its founders, will get a seat in the EU Parliament.

Support for the Swedish Pirate Party has really increased with the introduction of IPRED (Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive) anti-piracy legislation. Its membership has already surpassed that of the Green Party, and more than half of men under 30, according to the polls, are going to vote for them this year in the European Parliament elections.

The same guilty verdict handed down to the Swedes on April 17 was literally a gift for the Pirate Party, whose ratings began to grow by leaps and bounds . At the moment, the party is represented by 41,750 members ( exact statistics here ), and at the current growth rate it will be the third largest in Sweden before the weekend.

A recent poll by the Swedish publication DN.se predicts that the Pirate Party will collect about 5.1% of all votes in the upcoming EU elections in June, and this is enough to guarantee a seat in the European Parliament. Another survey showed that pirates are the second largest party among voters in the age group of 18 to 30 years.

“This poll justifies our recent phenomenal growth in support, and confirms that pirates will be in Brussels after this election,” says Pirate Party leader Rickard Falkving in an interview with TorrentFreak . “This poll will help support our party. We still have a lot of work, but we are already at the finish line and the goal is one ... June 7 is election day. On the morning of June 8th, we all will find out. ”

“In January 2006, we set sail for a ship whose goal is rights and civil liberties, which many current politicians ignore, and with the help of the votes of our citizens we will throw such figures out of offices. It seems that we just heard the screams of the sentry on the deck - I SEE THE LAND! ”Added Falkvinge.

Three years ago, when the Pirate Party was just starting up, most of the press looked at it with undisguised skepticism, and it simply amused some. Times have changed, the Pirate Party is now a serious competitor for the largest parties in Sweden, and is on the direct road to the European Parliament.