Brussels has been left reeling by what EU politicians see as a “nightmare” victory for Geert Wilders and his ‘Nexit’ supporters in yesterday’s Dutch general elections, reports in the Netherlands say. The Mail has more.
The 60-year-old’s populist PVV (Freedom Party) won 37 seats, according to near complete results, signalling a dramatic shift to the Right in the EU country.
The Eurosceptic party’s unexpected but resounding win prompted immediate congratulations from fellow far-Right leaders in France, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Belgium, who said it showed “borders and rights must be defended”.
However, the landslide has raised fears in Brussels on account of PVV’s anti-EU stance, and its pledge to hold a binding referendum on leaving the bloc.
This, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, means that victory for Wilders is a “nightmare” scenario for EU bureaucrats, who ever since Britain left in 2020 have feared the emergence of another challenger to the bloc’s status quo. …
“Wilders’ wish for a Nexit in particular makes Brussels tremble,” the Dutch publication reported, pointing to his and his party’s outspoken Euroscepticism.
In its manifesto, the PVV said it wants “a sovereign Netherlands, a Netherlands that is in charge of its own currency, its own borders and makes its own rules”.
Therefore, the party rejects any form of “political union” like the EU – “an institution that is pulling more and more power to itself, hoovers up taxpayer money, and imposes diktats on us” according to its platform.
“The PVV wants a binding referendum on Nexit, the idea that the Netherlands could leave the EU” – just like Britain did in 2020, after a divisive referendum in 2016.
Until such a referendum, the manifesto says the Netherlands wants to become a net recipient of EU funds, not a net contributor. The party also rejects any further EU expansion, and wants to restore its veto power in Brussels.
Finally, the PVV wants to tear down the EU flag from Government buildings.
“We are in the Netherlands. Only the national flag flies here.”
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