The anti-European and Islamophobic message of Geert Wilders, who has sometimes been compared to former US President Donald Trump for his populist rhetoric and hair colour, finally lifted him to the top of the polls after Wednesday’s parliamentary election in the Netherlands, AFP reported.

Wilders, 60, not shy about calling Moroccans “bastards” or holding caricature contests of the Prophet Muhammad, has built his career on his crusade against what he calls the “Islamic invasion” of the West.

Neither problems with the Dutch courts, which found him guilty of insulting Moroccans, nor death threats against him, which put him under police protection since 2004, did not stop him.

“I don’t regret the fight for freedom,” Wilders said in an interview with AFP ahead of the 2021 election.

“Of course, I am taking a stand, I am being attacked, my country is being attacked,” he said.

There are “harder problems than the fight against migrants”

Wilders is now in his sixth election, coming close to pulling off a surprise on several occasions.

But after trying to tone down his populist rhetoric a bit by focusing on other voters’ concerns, he exceeded expectations.

There are “more important issues than dealing with the flow of asylum seekers and immigrants,” he said during one of the last election debates, adding that he was willing to put aside his views on Islam to govern.

While immigration remained a key campaign issue, the Dutch were more concerned about “keeping money in the wallet”, he said, vowing to focus more on “safety and health” than his opposition to Islam.

The Freedom Party has maintained its anti-immigration tone

However, the manifesto of his PVV (Party for Freedom) retained the xenophobic tone that became his trademark.

“Asylum seekers feast on delicious free buffets on cruise ships, while Dutch families have to cut back on shopping,” the manifesto reads.

Proposed measures

Among the proposed anti-migration measures:

• restoration of control at the Dutch borders,
• detention and deportation of illegal migrants,
• return of Syrian asylum seekers
• renewal of work permits for workers within the EU.

Regarding Islam, the PVV manifesto states: “The Netherlands is not an Islamic country. There are no Islamic schools, no Koran, no mosques.” He proposes to ban the wearing of headscarves in government buildings.

In terms of foreign policy, it is about the “Netherlands first” approach, which involves closing the representative office in Ramallah and strengthening ties with Israel, including moving its embassy to Jerusalem.

A “compulsory referendum” on Nexit — the Netherlands’ exit from the EU — is also on the agenda, as is an “immediate freeze” on development aid.

Half Indonesian mother, Hungarian wife / Time spent in a kibbutz

Born in 1963 in Venlo, near the German border, Wilders grew up in a Catholic family with his brother and two sisters.

His mother was half Indonesian, something he rarely mentions.

As his older brother told the German magazine Der Spiegel, he became interested in politics in the 1980s.

“Then he was neither clearly left-wing nor right-wing, nor xenophobic. But he was fascinated by the political game, the struggle for power and influence,” said Paul Wilders.

His hatred of Islam seems to have developed slowly. He spent some time in Israel, in a kibbutz, observing with his own eyes the tension in relations with the Palestinians.

He was also shocked by the murders of far-right leader Pim Fortuyn in 2002 and radical anti-Islam filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004.

Isolated figure

He vowed he would not be silenced despite being found guilty of insulting Dutch-Moroccan citizens, a high-profile trial that boosted his political profile just months after Brexit.

Wilders entered politics in 1998 in the liberal VVD party, which he left in 2006 to found his PVV.

Her biggest electoral victory was in 2010, when she won 24 seats. In 2017, it became the second largest party in the parliament, and in 2021 it will become the third.

A master at using the media, loved or hated, he divides a country that prides itself on a long tradition of multicultural tolerance.

Some consider Geert Wilders a separate figure. He is married in Hungary, but they have no children, and his security limits his contact with the outside world.

But by taking advantage of Dutch people’s disillusionment with their politicians, Wilders managed to push the political discourse in the Netherlands even further to the right.