Awareness among Europeans on Kurdish cause must be raised, says Kurdish European Parliament candidate

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Diana Ghafoor, a candidate of the Swedish Social Democratic Party for the European Parliament, on Sunday told Kurdistan24 that awareness among European citizens about the Kurds must be raised.

The voting process for the European Parliament in Sweden and other European countries will come to a close, with preliminary results set to be announced at 11 pm tonight.

353 candidates are running for the European Parliament in Sweden, with 35 of them on the Social Democratic list. Of these candidates, 181 are men and 171 are women.

Ghafoor was born in the Kurdistan Region. Her father is from Kirkuk and her mother is from Ilam, western Iran (Rojhilat).

“I need 5,000 votes. During the election, I received support from many people in Sweden and abroad. People have voted for me and they express their support by sending me letters and pictures of my campaign list. They also confirm that they have cast their vote for me,” Ghafoor told Kurdistan24.

She expressed her desire to introduce the Kurdish cause to the world and Europe.

“We must establish a strong lobby for the Kurds and raise awareness among European about the kurdish cause,” she added.

Between June 6 and 9, 2024, over 370 million individuals residing in the 27 member states of the European Union will participate in the European elections. The European Parliament will initiate a campaign aimed at informing and motivating EU citizens to exercise their right to vote.

In accordance with EU electoral legislation, elections for the European Parliament take place once every five years. The 2024 elections in the 27 EU member states will be conducted from June 6 until June 9.

Voting commenced in the Netherlands on June 6, followed by Ireland on June 7, and residents of Latvia, Malta, and Slovakia on June 8.

Polling stations in the Czech Republic will be open on Friday and Saturday, while voting will take place in Italy on Saturday and Sunday. In the remaining 20 EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, and Estonia), Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden), elections will occur on Sunday, with the results announced later on Sunday evening.

This election will bring about several changes in the legislative body, the most noticeable being the increase in the number of available seats, rising from 705 to 720.

The number of seats in the European Parliament will experience an increase from 705 to 720 in the upcoming elections this year.