Sebastiaan Stöteler

T.S.M. "Sebastiaan" Stöteler (; born 18 November 1983) is a Dutch politician of the right-wing populist Party for Freedom (PVV).

Born and raised in Almelo, he worked as a judicial officer and served on its municipal council starting in 2018. He became a member of the Provincial Council of Overijssel in 2022. Stöteler was elected to the European Parliament in June 2024 as the PVV's lead candidate.

Biography Early life Stöteler was born in Almelo, Overijssel in 1983 and he grew up there. He had several jobs after graduating high school with a havo diploma before studying law at the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. From 2002 to 2008 he was a bailiff and later a judicial officer for a debt collection agency starting in the mid-2010s.

Political career Stöteler first became involved with the PVV in 2016 and volunteered as a policy officer for the PVV's faction in the Provincial Council of Overijssel. Stöteler entered the Almelo Municipal Council in 2018, where he has served on its presidium and as the PVV's parliamentary leader. Comparing him to other municipal councilors of the PVV, described Stöteler as a moderate who occasionally cooperated with the governing coalition. The PVV became the second-largest party in the Netherlands, winning six seats, and Stöteler was elected. Its MEPs joined the new Patriots for Europe political group that included Le Pen's National Rally and the Hungarian Fidesz party. Stöteler became vice-chair of the group, and he has served on the following committees: Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Security and Defence Delegation for relations with Israel Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and ASEAN (substitute)

Political positions Stöteler has stated that his main political interests and strengths are in estimating how law works in practice. He has argued that Islam is not a religion but a totalitarian ideology which he likened to fascism and has spoken out against the construction of new mosques in the Netherlands. In 2021, Stöteler argued that the PVV does not want to exclude foreigners or immigrants from the Netherlands but is against what he described as "Islamization" of the country. Stöteler also supports expanding nuclear energy in the Netherlands. A 2020 profile in Dutch newspaper Tubantia described Stöteler as a relatively pragmatic and moderate member of the PVV.

Electoral history

+ YearBodyPartyVotesResult.Party seatsIndividual 2019 Senate PVV 11 0 5 2021 House of Representatives PVV 25 338 17 2024 European Parliament PVV 1 546,868 6 2025 House of Representatives PVV 2 8,584 26