Nationalist Geert Wilders has come to power in the Netherlands thanks to a deal with EPP and Liberal parties. The agreement ushers in the most right-wing government in the Netherlands in decades.
Today it was announced that outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s centre-right VVD party (ALDE), the NSC party, and the farmers’ party BBB (both EPP affiliated) have backed Wilders’s PVV party.
Secretary General of the Party of European Socialists (PES) Giacomo Fillibeck said:
“Pro-Europe, pro-Ukraine, pro-Rule of Law. These were supposed to be the red lines for the EPP. Geert Wilders committed to “undermine Europe”, PVV voted against aid for Ukraine, and Wilders defames judges and independent media.
“A line now runs from Finland, through Sweden, down to the Netherlands, to Croatia, and to Italy. It is a line connecting all those places where supposedly ‘pro-EU’ parties have now struck deals with the far-right to gain power. As socialists, we condemn these very worrying developments.
“We stand with Frans Timmermans and Groenlinks-PvdA. They are the alternative to this far-right drift in the Netherlands, just as progressive parties across the EU are the alternative too.”
