The final returns are still being counted, but Sweden's Pirate Party (Piratpartiet) has secured at least one seat in today's elections for the European Parliament. According to Sweden's election authority, the Pirate Party has crossed the four percent threshold needed for a seat and currently has 7.1 percent of the vote.

"We have just written political history," said Swedish Pirate Party leader Rick Falkvinge. "Tonight, politicians have learned that doing what the lobby asks will cost them their jobs. We're the largest party in the segment below 30 years of age. That's building the future of liberties."

With more than 700 legislators in the European Parliament (see the complete breakdown), a vote or two won't do much to set the agenda. But for a party formed only a few years ago with a narrow set of concerns, this is an excellent showing.

The Pirate Party has aspirations to be a worldwide movement, aspirations we discussed when we profiled the party several months ago. But the Party has had trouble gaining traction outside of Sweden. It was on the ballot in Germany this week as well, but only secured 0.9 percent of the vote there.

Still, that's good enough to cross the 0.5 percent threshold for government funding of a political party, and it means that the German Pirates should be better equipped next time around. Sweden's Pirate Party has already grabbed some government funding for its youth movement, Ung Pirat (Young Pirate), a move that didn't pass without controversy but has nonetheless continued.

The Swedish result makes the Pirate Party the fifth most popular in the country, and one of eight to have cleared the four percent threshold. It also shows the pirates beating more established parties like the Christian Democrats and the Centre Party.

So get ready, Brussels and Strasbourg—their numbers may be small, but the pirates are coming. And their strong showing among the young means that more will be arriving in the future.