March 21, 2017

No end in sight for populism despite Wilders disappointment

located:	Netherlands
editor:	Maria João Morais

Europeans who advocate integration and multiculturalism breathed a sigh of relief at the outcome of last week's Dutch elections. The xenophobic, far-right Freedom Party received a lower-than-expected vote, which left many analysts rejoicing over a “defeat of populism”.

However, the failure of Geert Wilders’ party is not so obvious: it increased its vote to 13% and consolidated itself as the second largest party in the Netherlands.

In addition, one reason for Wilder's disappointing results was that other parties have taken over his agenda, notably on issues such as immigration and border control. Thus, Wilders may not have enjoyed the expected vote, but worryingly many of his ideas have already stretched into the moderate right and to the centre.

In the final weeks of the election campaign, the xenophobic rhetoric even reached the winner of the elections, incumbent liberal prime minister Mark Rutte, who days before the election banned rallies supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and ordered the expulsion of the Turkish Family Minister. Controversially, Turkish politicians were in Europe campaigning to win votes from the diaspora in a referendum that would drastically enhance Erdogan’s powers. For many analysts, the diplomatic fall-out with Ankara and the exchange of accusations between the Dutch and Turkish presidents in fact benefited the leader of the liberal party.

Nonetheless, dangers remain on the doorstep of Europe. A significant part of the European population are less than keen on receiving immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Moreover, many are fearful over security, connecting migrants with terrorism; a train of thought stirred up and driven by rising extreme-right politics. As high-risk elections in France and Germany draw closer, politicians across the continent must up their game in the intense battle against populist nationalism.