The election in the Netherlands ​

Unrest after Wilder's triumph: "Truly an earthquake" 

Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders breathes fresh air after the success in the country's parliamentary elections. His PVV gets 37 mandates and 23.5 percent of the votes in the election – a doubling compared to the 2021 election, TT reports. 

 

- I really do not rule out becoming prime minister, he now says himself to the newspaper De Telegraaf.  

 

The formation of a government is expected to face difficulties. In order to govern, the PVV needs to gather support from several other parties in order to govern. The party leader of the right-liberal VVD, Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius, has approached the PVV but also said she cannot imagine a government under Wilders. In that case, a more likely alternative is that Yesilgöz himself gets to take on the responsibility of prime minister, TT writes.  

Among immigrants and Muslims in the Netherlands, the election result raises concerns. 

 

- I just received a message from a teacher in a high school whose students asked this morning if they now have to leave the country. This is really an earthquake, says Mohammed Aknin from a Muslim organization in Tilburg to the newspaper AD. 

 

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Analysis: He creates terror in the EU - "worst nightmare"  

 

Right-wing populist Geert Wilder's success in the Netherlands' parliamentary elections is described in an analysis in Politico as Brussels' worst nightmare. Wilders wants the country to hold a referendum on leaving the EU.  

 

"Wilders would change the dynamics in the EU, together with the far-right and nationalist leaders who are already in place," writes the news site, and notes that issues such as the climate, EU reforms and arms support to Ukraine will be subject to intense debate and possibly fundamentally change. 

 

Sky News' Adam Parsons writes that few expected such success for Wilder's PVV party and that after many years on the fringes of politics, the party leader is now emerging as a winner.  

 

"That he would become prime minister is possible in theory but still unrealistic. For many people, he is simply too toxic," writes Parsons. 

 

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Geert Wilders is celebrated - and seen - after the election victory  

 

The right-wing populist Geert Wilders, whose PVV looks set to become the largest party after yesterday's election in the Netherlands, is praised by like-minded people in Europe, writes TT.

 

"Congratulations to Geert Wilder and the PVV for their spectacular performance in the parliamentary elections, which confirms the growing support for the defense of national identities," writes Marine Le Pen, leader of the French far-right National Rally party, on X. 

 

Hungary's Victor Orbán also congratulated Wilders on the election victory on the night of Thursday.  

 

However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan is more skeptical in his congratulations, stating that "the continued threat from right-wing extremists is real and on our doorstep" in a post on X.