Far-right European politicians have taken one after another to welcome radical Eurosceptic Geert Wilders, whose political formation the Party for Freedom (PVV) won a shock victory in the Dutch parliamentary elections on Wednesday, a scenario feared in Brussels, Politico.eu reported on Thursday and the France Presse agency, which quoted by Agerpres.

Wilders’ victory “shows that more and more EU countries are challenging the way it works,” said the leader of France’s far-right National Assembly party, Marine Le Pen, who said she was “delighted” by the Dutch result. elections in which the PVV won 37 out of 150 parliamentary seats, according to the latest forecasts.

The result sent shockwaves through Brussels, as Geert Wilders campaigned against the EU’s “dictat”, demanding the reintroduction of border controls, the arrest and deportation of migrants, a ban on Muslim schools, the Koran and mosques in the Netherlands, the restoration of work permits for workers within the EU and supported the idea of ​​convening a referendum for “Nexit” with the aim of leaving the Netherlands from the EU according to the Brexit model.

When asked if a similar referendum would be possible in the Netherlands, Marine Le Pen said: “The good news is that people can have their say. The Dutch people must choose their destiny, as the British people did.”

Wilders, who has been dubbed the “Dutch Donald Trump” for his hairstyle, which resembles that of the former Republican US president, and his anti-immigration agenda, has also received cheers from other Eurosceptic politicians.

“A new Europe is possible,” Italian Vice Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-immigration League party, wrote on the X social network.

“Congratulations on this great success,” said Alisa Weidel, leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). “All of Europe wants political changes,” she believes.

For Viktor Orban, “the wind of change has come”

Wilders also received greetings from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, with whom, in addition to his hostility to migration, he shares his opposition to the financial support that the EU offers to Ukraine. “The wind of change has come,” Orbán wrote on Twitter, paraphrasing the title of a song by West German rock band Scorpions released shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“Bravo Geert!!!!!,” wrote Harald Vilimski, MEP from the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPOe), in a post accompanied by a photo of the leaders of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament. parliament

In turn, the leader of the far-right Belgian party Vlaams Belang, Tom Van Grieken, sees in the results of the elections in the Netherlands a “desire for real changes” demonstrated by the electorate of EU countries. “Parties like ours are popping up all over Europe,” notes Tom Van Grieken.

“More and more Europeans are demanding in the streets and at the polls that their nations, their borders and their rights be protected,” said Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s far-right Vox party.

Then there are negotiations, as a rule, very long in the Netherlands, regarding the formation of a government coalition

But once the joy of victory wears off, Geert Wilders will face the challenge of trying to form a majority, and his chances of getting to the table of European leaders will diminish because he has no allies.

Thus, the Socialist-Ecological Alliance of former European Commissioner Frans Timmermans, which ranks second in the ranking with 25 parliamentary mandates, refused from the very beginning a coalition with Wilders. “It’s time to protect our democracy,” said the former European Commission vice-president, who resigned from the post to devote himself to his country’s domestic politics with a view to becoming prime minister.

The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the liberal wing of Prime Minister Mark Rutte (who has promised to leave politics after the election), won 24 seats, 10 fewer than in the previous election. The leader of this party, Dylan Yesilgez, has so far limited himself to saying that it remains to be seen whether Wilders will be able to form a coalition.

Instead, the popular Peter Omzigt, leader of the new reformist party New Social Contract (NSC), which won 20 seats, declared himself open to talks with Wilders, but admitted that the process “will not be easy.”

A characteristic feature of the negotiations of the Dutch government coalition is their duration. In 2017 and 2021, these negotiations took more than 200 days to complete.

So far, on the eve of the elections, Wilders has moderated his radical speech, especially regarding the banning of the Koran and the closing of mosques, and promised that if he becomes prime minister, he will “remain within the limits of the Constitution”.

• PORTRAIT Who is Geert Wilders, this “Dutch Donald Trump” / Anti-immigrant, half-Indonesian mother and Hungarian wife