Swedish Pirate Party Expected to Win (Not Plunder) A Seat in E.U. Parliament

It looks like Europe is just as taken with the Pirate Party as we at Giz are, because a recent electoral poll shows them with enough votes to secure a seat in the E.U. Parliament.

The guilty verdict handed down to the Pirate Bay leaders resulted in a huge amount of publicity and popularity for the Pirate Party, regardless of the fact that the two are not officially related. Membership has shot up to a record 42,000+, and a recent poll to check out the frontrunners in the E.U. election showed even rosier numbers.

The Pirate Party is now the second-most popular party for voters 18-30, and Swedish newspaper DN.se predicts a vote of 5.1% in the election, which will be enough for a seat in Parliament. Sure, it’s a minority vote (and that’s being generous), but a pirate can surely stand his ground. [DN.se (warning: Swedish) via TorrentFreak]