European elections: Dutch exit polls show progressive alliance just ahead of far right

Left and Green parties say nationalists can be beaten as Netherlands is first to vote in four-day election

Left and Green parties in the Netherlands have said the far right can be beaten, after exit polls showed a progressive alliance narrowly ahead of their nationalist rivals on the first day of European elections.

Dutch voters were the first to be called to the polls in the four-day democratic exercise where citizens in 27 EU member states are electing 720 representatives to the world's only directly elected transnational parliament.