Why did Wilders achieve such a huge result in the Netherlands?

Far-right ideology is experiencing its peak activity in Europe, as now also proven by the election results in the Netherlands. What drives the success of politicians like Geert Wilders? “Low trust and high interest in immigration mean the signals are green for the far right,” says political scientist Matthijs Rodwin (University of Amsterdam).

He hoped things would calm down after Wednesday. But his phone is still ringing: Mathis Rodwin is an expert in the field of populism and the far right. The massive victory for the Freedom Party was also unexpected for the political world, even though it had been watching Geert Wilders’ gradual rise for months.

Just like the steady rise of far-right parties in Europe. In the 1990s, they received support from about 5% of voters. Rodwin says the proportion is now between 15 and 20 percent across Europe. Although the success of these types of parties fluctuates from one country to another and from one election to another, their ideas have shifted the political discourse towards the right.

How do you explain the success of Geert Wilders and his ideas?

“If you look at the Netherlands from a distance, the conditions for a far-right party were all there. The government fell this summer over the issue of asylum and immigration, which means that this topic has remained at the top of the political agenda. You saw during the campaign that this topic is important Also for voters. And when the media reports a lot about this, it’s good news for far-right parties, because they do Case owner It is on these topics. The more progressive parties fail to focus on that story.

“There is also a lot of dissatisfaction in the Netherlands at the moment about politicians and the way politics is run. Low trust and high interest in immigration means the signals are green for the far right.

What can be said about a Party for Freedom voter?

“Wilders’s supporters consist of two groups: his core loyal voters, and now a large group of strategic voters. Wilders’ new supporters are less extreme. He has succeeded in attracting several groups, including left-wing voters. If we take the Freedom Party, it is a very right-wing party.” On cultural issues, in social and economic terms, they are in the middle. Wilders has leftist themes (Social Security, Medicare, Housing, AB) She was arrested during the campaign, which succeeded. A large portion of his supporters consist of people who are less able to make ends meet.

“What’s good to keep in mind: People believe that voters’ opinions have also changed because of the Freedom Party’s success. But citizens have not become more broadly negative about immigration.

Can the emerging populism in the Netherlands be compared to trends in other European countries?

“Far-right parties in Europe are different from each other. For example, the Vlaams Belang was initially the Vlaams Bloc, and this party goes back much further than the PVV; Wilders comes from the liberal VVD party. There are also fundamental differences, in the areas of economics or homosexuality, for example. Some parties are a little more left-wing, others a little more right-wing. One is against Russia, the other is completely pro-Putin. But the essence of all these parties is: us versus them. “They are all populists, they are all anti-establishment, they have negative thoughts about immigration, and almost all are Eurosceptic.”

The Party for Freedom’s election manifesto states that the party wants to hold a binding referendum on NEXT, and that no more money will go to Ukraine. If Wilders becomes Prime Minister of the Netherlands, what do you expect from his role in the European Union and on the global stage?

“This is still speculation. We don’t know yet whether the Freedom Party will join the government and whether the party will provide the prime minister. It could be one of two ways. We have the radical rightist Giorgia Meloni in Italy. In the end she took a somewhat moderate position. But On the other hand, of course, you have Viktor Orban in Hungary. He is a huge burden on the European Union and is destroying liberal democracy in his country.

“How Prime Minister Wilders will position himself and whether he can implement these elements of his election manifesto also depends on the agreements he makes with other parties. Many parties in the Netherlands are skeptical of the European Union. At the same time, you see that Europe played no role at all in the last elections.”

In Poland, the currency fell in the other direction during the elections, despite the strong presence of right-wing rhetoric in that country.

“The extent of success of far-right parties varies from one election to another. You also see this in Belgium. This electoral success of the Party for Freedom was also the result of chance, because the party opened the door to cooperation with the party and Geert Wilders responded intelligently to this. We could have had a completely different conversation now. But you see that the way people talk across Europe – especially regarding immigration – has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. especially Center-right parties have increasingly moved towards the far right.