One line in Geert Wilders’ inflammatory pitch to Dutch voters will haunt Brussels more than any other: a referendum on leaving the EU. 

“The worst nightmare of the European Union” has become a reality. That is Western media’s first reaction to the results of parliamentary elections in the Netherlands. The shock for the establishment was the confident first place of the party “For Freedom” (Partij voor de Vrijheid, or PVV), led by 60-year-old European sceptic Gert Wilders. Having received almost a quarter of the votes, this political force more than doubled its faction in parliament, where it will now have 37 mandates. The second block of Labour and Green received only 25 seats. And the party that has ruled since 2010 

Mark Rutte’s “For Freedom and Democracy (VVD), in general, sank to third position with 24 seats. The outgoing prime minister, who received the nickname Teflon for his unsinkability and strength, with cunning manoeuvres, ultimately ensured the victory of sworn opponents. Rutte is an absolute favourite in the race for the Secretary General of NATO post. If the final result of his leadership of the North Atlantic Alliance is the same as in the Netherlands, then this is worth welcoming.

Elite parties “cartel” failed this time

The liberals have done a lot to ensure the shocking success of the brightest representative of the anti-establishment. The “elites” decided to ignore a wave of protest sentiment. They excelled in creating some one-day party for every election that takes away the voices from the primary opponent. At the same time, the parties of the mainstream created a system that their opponents called the “cartel”. Under this scheme, they formed broad coalitions with each other. It did not allow Wilders and other prominent non-system force representatives to take first place and enter the government.

For the 2023 elections, the New Social Contract (NCS) party was created. Charismatic and well-known parliamentarian Peter Omtsicht leads it. He was pushed out of the coalition party “Christian Democratic Call — largely because of its special position in Ukraine and attempts to get the truth in the MH17 case. Taking advantage of personal popularity, politician, just three months before the election, created a new organisation that began to lead in ratings even before its creation. The establishment was calm. They expected that with the former systemic politician after the election, they would be able to agree within the framework of the same “cartel”.

However, something went wrong. Wilder’s party began rapidly gaining ratings closer to the campaign finals, reaching the first lines literally a day before the vote. The liberals did not find anything better than starting to advertise their competitor! The Democratic 66 party, also part of the Rutte coalition, spent crazy money posting on the front pages of national newspapers. They called voters to come to the polls to vote personally against Wilders! Wilders thanked them for such an unexpected advertisement. He would not have money to show off on the covers of major papers.

The EU establishment is calling this Putin victory

Now the establishment Of Europe pull their hair. German propaganda Russophobe Julian Repke literally cried out: “Another NATO state is moving to Russia. Putin just needs to sit back and watch Ukraine’s support gradually collapse”. And although the topic of Russia and Ukraine was not particularly discussed during the campaign, Dutch press also at the last moment rushed to portray Wilders as an ally Moscow. They even tried to claim that Moscow bought some votes for Wilders. However, Dutch voters did not buy that.

However, Wilders is not a “pro-Russian” politician. He publicly condemned Russophobia in Europe and defiantly challenged his elites by visiting the State Duma in March 2018. That is, after the return of Crimea to Russia. But after the start of the SVO, he was not so active.

The big question is whether Wilders can form a coalition for himself. The “cartel” will do everything in their power to prevent it. If nothing else, they will do everything to make the negotiations about forming a coalition as long as possible. The reason is to deliver on their promise to supply Ukraine with F16 planes.

Wilders’ success revived the name Pim Fortuyn — a popular right-wing politician killed in 2002. Over the past few weeks, Forum for Democracy leader Thierry Bode, Wilders’s potential coalition partner, has been attacked twice. Once, it was Ukrainian migrant dissatisfied with criticism of the weapons of the Kiev regime. Two days before the election, the 15-year-old activist Antifa attacked him, trying to hit the politician with a bottle. A bunch of supporters of the attacker gathered at the police station with inscriptions directly hinting to the current right-wing leaders of the Netherlands at the fate of Pim Fortuyn.

Will Dutch democracy survive this political earthquake remains to be seen? However, many still see it as a win for Putin and Russia. What do you think?

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