Far-right populist Geert Wilders wins Dutch election
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The news: Dutch anti-EU far-right populist Geert Wilders will start looking for coalition partners after a massive election win that is set to have wide repercussions in the Netherlands and Europe.
The numbers: Beating all predictions, his Freedom Party (PVV) won 37 seats out of 150, well ahead of 25 for a joint Labour/Green ticket and 24 for the conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The context: A fan of Hungary's Eurosceptic Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the vocally anti-Islam Wilders has vowed to halt all immigration, slash Dutch payments to the European Union and block the entrance of any new members, including Ukraine. Wilders' win sends a warning shot to mainstream parties across Europe ahead of the European Parliament elections next June, which will likely be fought on the same issues as the Dutch election: immigration, cost of living and climate change.
What they said: After his victory, Wilders said: "The Netherlands will be returned to the Dutch, the asylum tsunami and migration will be curbed".
While none of the parties Wilders could form a government with share his anti-EU ideas, he said in his victory speech: "I am confident we can reach an agreement. We want to govern and ... we will govern."
The source: AAP
