Geert Wilders: Right-wing populist gives up dream of becoming head of government

According to his own words, the Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders will not become head of government despite his election victory in November. “I can only become prime minister if all parties in the coalition support this,” Wilders wrote on the online service X on Wednesday. This is “not the case,” he added, with a view to the coalition negotiations that have been going on for months. “The love for my country and my voters is greater and more important than my own position.”

Wilder’s right-wing populist PVV surprisingly won the early parliamentary elections in the Netherlands in November. Wilders then sought a four-party coalition with the VVD of the previous Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the New Social Contract (NSC) party and the farmers’ party BBB. However, the negotiations initially ended inconclusively in February after the NSC left the talks.

Dutch media recently reported on the possible formation of an expert government. On Thursday, the mediator responsible for forming the government is due to present a new report on the status of the coalition negotiations.

Geert Wilders – the Dutch Trump

Wilders’ election victory was tantamount to a political earthquake for the Netherlands. The right-wing populist is sometimes compared to former US President Donald Trump because of his violent polemics against immigrants and Muslims. His party’s election program called for, among other things, a ban on mosques and referendums on the Netherlands’ exit from the EU and an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine.

This post has been updated.