EU leaders should take note but it's too simplistic to say populists are taking over, says Katya Adler.

The unexpectedly meaty win for controversial, hard-right politician Geert Wilders in Wednesday’s general election in the Netherlands set international headlines on fire.

Right-wing nationalists across Europe rushed to congratulate the populist politician, sometimes dubbed the Dutch Trump - partly for his dyed, bouffant-like hairdo, and partly for his famously firebrand rhetoric.

Geert Wilders’ publicly expressed views - including linking Muslim immigration with terrorism and calling for a ban on mosques and the Quran - are so provocative that he has been under tight police protection since 2004.

Wilders was convicted of inciting discrimination, although later acquitted, and he was refused entry to the UK back in 2009.

But Europe’s far right believes their views have now become more mainstream.

  • IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social
    7·
    1 year ago

    While this is bad, it’s not as bad as what’s happening in other European countries. He got 37 seats of the 150 in lower house parliament. He still needs to form a coalition with other parties to govern. He’s the only far right party with significant seats. The other parties that might work with him and have enough seats are all centrists. And the last time the PVV joined a centrist coalition the cabinet fell within a year.

    • Hyperreality@kbin.social
      51·
      1 year ago

      Yeah. English speaking media are used to first past the post political systems, where the largest party wins it all. That’s why they’re more alarmed than they should be, although it is a very worrying sign for Europe.

  • boredtortoise@lemm.eeEnglish
    01·
    1 year ago

    Countries haven’t implemented any safeguards against anti-democracy. These kinds of horrible individuals shouldn’t even be able to be an option in an election

    • Hyperreality@kbin.social
      11·
      1 year ago

      Almost impossible in a democracy.

      Eg. In 2004 the far right Vlaams Blok in Belgium was effectively shut down following a ruling convicting it for racism. It’s likely they undermined their own case, because being convicted was electorally advantageous for them.

      They then almost immediately started a new party called Vlaams Belang, which no longer said the quiet bits out loud, pushing the whole “Free Speech” narrative really hard. This new party is now stronger than Vlaams Blok ever was.