Ani Zalinyan makes history as first ethnic Armenian elected to Dutch House of Representatives

Ani Zalinyan has secured a seat in the Dutch Parliament, making history as the first ethnic Armenian MP in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands.

She ran on the list of the GroenLinks-PvdA alliance, which won 20 seats, according to the Diary of the Netherlands.

The 2025 Dutch general elections took place on October 29. The centrist D66 party made significant gains, likely positioning it to lead the formation of the next government, while the far-right party of Geert Wilders lost support, Reuters reported.

With 98% of votes counted early on Thursday, D66 and Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) were both projected to win 26 seats in the 150-seat lower house. D66 made the largest gains, nearly tripling its seats, whereas Wilders’ party suffered a sharp decline from its record showing in the 2023 polls. Exit polls and early results indicated a narrow victory for the progressive D66, with Wilders’ party trailing in second place.