BRUSSELS: The Netherlands on Thursday kicked off a marathon four-day European Union eleetion, in an early test of predictions the far right is headed for big gains in the bloc`s parliament.Geert Wilders` far-right Freedom Party (PVV) is riding high and projected to claim up to nine European Parliament seats after failing to win any five years ago.

`We want less immigration, we want to toughen up asylum rules and policies, Wilders, whose party is in a Dutch coalition government after a surprise election win last year, said after voting. His call has resonated with voters like Simone Nieuwenhuys, a 48-year-old government worker.

`I want the EU to change,` she said after casting her ballot for the PVV. `I think we`re too open. We should be more critical as to who we let in because itcosts a lot of money.` Surveys suggesting the far right could grab a quarter of the EU parliament`s 720 seats have rattled its main groupings, the conservative European People`s Party (EPP) and the leftist Socialists and Democrats. Current European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, seeking a second term, has opened the door to her EPP working with the far right to ensure legislation is passed.

Von der Leyen, a polyglot former German defence minister, has been courting Italian premier Giorgia Meloni, who heads the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party.

EU leaders, including Meloni, will decide after the elections who should helm the commission. Their choice needs the backing of a simple majority in the European Parliament.-AFP