Geert Wilders

The lawmakers said the right-wing nationalist party lost the election “because Wilders had lost interest.”

In a shocking turn of events, the largest rightwing party in the Netherlands, the Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV), led by Geert Wilders, has been dealt another major blow. After a disappointing election result in which the party lost 11 seats, seven out of the remaining 26 members of parliament announced on Wednesday that they are breaking with the PVV. The MPs will form a new parliamentary group under the name Group Markuszower, named after Gidi Markuszower, one of the most prominent figures behind the split.

Geert Wilders will be banished to the opposition benches following election results that put centrist liberals in pole position to lead the next government.

The “Dutch Trump” won a landslide almost two years ago in a result that shook a Europe led by governments struggling to contain their own insurgent hard-Right parties.

Leaders including Sir Keir Starmer will be poring over Rob Jetten’s triumph for clues to how to ward off the threat of the populist and anti-migrant Right, led by the poll-topping Nigel Farage.

The Netherlands will hold general elections tomorrow that, according to the latest polls, could alter the political balance of the country without changing the underlying trend: the right continues to set the agenda, and Geert Wilders remains the favourite, though still isolated.

New details have emerged about the terror plot dismantled in Antwerp this week, suggesting that both Prime Minister Bart De Wever and Mayor Els van Doesburg were potential targets. It has sparked alarm across Europe, with Dutch politician Geert Wilders now saying he, too, may have been on the extremists’ hitlist.

According to Gazet van Antwerpen, the terrorist plot foiled by police on Thursday, October 9th, also included plans to target Antwerp’s mayor Els van Doesburg (N-VA).

Finally, Western Europeans are taking to the streets for the right reasons. Well, some Western Europeans in some parts of Western Europe, anyway, and at least partly for the right reasons. In France, where street protests (often violent) are as central to the culture as wine, brie, and the cinematic genius of Jerry Lewis, they’ve been rampaging recently over proposed government budget cuts, but back in April they were kicking up a fuss over a blatantly partisan ruling that declared Marine Le Pen ineligible to run for office until 2030. In Britain, of course, Tommy Robinson’s peaceful Unite the Kingdom rally on September 13 drew – depending on whom you listen to – either 3 million protesters or just barely enough people to form a basketball team. (In the pictures, it sure looked like millions.)

After years of lax migration policies, the Netherlands appears to be reverting to a more restrictive, common-sense approach.

On Thursday, July 3rd, the Dutch parliament’s lower house passed a sweeping package of asylum law reforms championed by right-wing populist leader Geert Wilders.

The legislation halts new residency permits for asylum seekers indefinitely, and cuts the duration of temporary residency permits from five to three years.

No one seems to be able to make sense of the political earthquake unleashed on the Hague by the populist firebrand Geert Wilders on Tuesday, June 3rd, by having his Freedom Party (PVV/PfE) quit the fragile right-wing coalition. Wilders cited as the reason his coalition partners’ unwillingness to tighten asylum rules—a key campaign promise that gave him a landslide victory back in 2023.

While some commentators are warning that an inevitable snap election would give the leftist opposition a chance at governance, Wilders remains unfazed by the pessimistic voices. In fact, he has already set course for the ultimate prize: becoming the prime minister who would actually deliver.

Dutch right-wing leader Geert Wilders has issued a stark ultimatum to the country’s ruling coalition, threatening to withdraw support from the government within weeks if it does not impose a strict asylum freeze.

“Otherwise we will get out,” the Party for Freedom (PVV) leader declared at a press conference on Monday, during which he presented a hardline 10-point plan aimed at radically curbing migration and dismantling existing asylum policies.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV), has demanded that authorities take away the Dutch citizenship of those who were involved in the antisemitic attacks on Jewish football fans in Amsterdam.

Speaking in the Dutch parliament on Wednesday, November 13th, Wilders, whose party is the largest governing party in the centre-right coalition, said: “For the first time since the Second World War there was a hunt on Jews. I am sick of being criticised when I tell the truth.”

A right-wing Dutch cabinet is ready to take up its duties after almost seven months of negotiations, PVV leader and election winner Geert Wilders announced on Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ve sorted it out! Agreement on everything! A new cabinet,” Wilders wrote on X.