The Freedom Party, led by Geert Wilders, the country’s most radical politician, won the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands on November 22. His party won 37 of the 150 seats in parliament and will now try to form a coalition.
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Wilders is known for his Euroscepticism and Islamophobia. He has been called the “Dutch Trump” for his similar populist ideas. Now she is a new headache for Europe and a problem for Ukraine, because she wants to stop aid with weapons and opposes Ukraine in NATO and the EU.
The PVV will have 37 of the 150 seats in parliament. The party proposes a vote to leave the EU and has harsh anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic rhetoric.
However, Wilders most likely will not create a coalition. The center-right VVD of ex-premier Rutte did not rule out cooperation with him, but it only has 24 seats, which is not enough to form a majority. Other parties exclude the possibility of cooperation with PVV.
Wilders has repeatedly stated that the Netherlands should stop supplying arms to Ukraine because, according to him, the country needs weapons for self-defense. There was no such rhetoric among other major parties.
Any coalition negotiations will be difficult. Frans Timmermans’ Labor-Green alliance came second, winning 25 seats, improving its position. The new center-right party, the New Social Contract, won 20 seats. The remaining parties have 5 or fewer seats.
The most likely is the formation of a coalition of parties of different ideologies, excluding Wilders’ Freedom Party.
The victory of the far-right PVV in the Netherlands is not good news for Ukraine, expert Yulia Soldatyuk-Westerveld said in an exclusive comment to an Ukrinform correspondent in The Hague.
PVV’s victory – 37 seats – is not good news for Ukraine. Primarily because the PVV does not support continued military support for Ukraine. Also because they had ties with Russia in the past. So the question arises, will they develop further, this relationship? What will be their rhetoric towards Russia? – she said.
According to her, tensions may increase regarding the issue of internally displaced persons in the Netherlands.
Marine Le Pen, Lega Mateo Salvini, Viktor Orban and other leaders of parties described in Europe as anti-immigrant, populist and Eurosceptic have welcomed the unexpected successes of Geert Wilders and his Party in the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands.
Wilders demands to close borders to immigrants, wants the Netherlands to leave the EU and does not want to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression. However, his chances for a government will depend on whether other parties want to join him in a coalition.
The editor of European Pravda, a profile on this topic, Sergei Sidorenko commented on the election results in the Netherlands:
This is a real earthquake. And along the lines of the EU, further expansion (including the accession of Ukraine), the Russian policy of the European Union, etc. And through constant military support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And considering that The Hague is the center of international justice and the best potential place for a tribunal for Putin. But now the latter has become much less real than it was before yesterday.
For now, we can only hope that the coalition negotiations will drag on and that current Prime Minister Mark Rutte will remain in office for at least another 3-6 months.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.