Back in November, a seismic shock was running through the dark underbelly of the Netherlands and European Union ruling elite. “Far-right” politician Geert Wilders was on the cusp, according to exit polls, of winning enough seats to be the guy who would form the next Dutch government.
It looks like populist Geert Wilders has at least a chance of forming a government in the Netherlands after his party won more seats in parliament than any other party.
Dutch anti-EU far-right populist Geert Wilders, who has vowed to halt all immigration to the Netherlands, was set for a major victory in parliamentary elections on Wednesday, an exit poll showed.
Beating all predictions, the exit poll put Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) at 35 out of 150 seats, 10 seats ahead of the closest rival, former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans’ Labour/Green Left combination. That margin was far greater than expected and appeared to be too great for the outcome to change…
But in February, what looked to be a done deal blew apart after one of the parties in the ruling coalition backed out over Wilders’ fervent desires to avoid new taxes and financial burdens on the Dutch people.
Dutch politics are nothing if not Byzantine in complexity.
…They’re not kidding when they say the negotiations “can take months.” Holy smokes – organizing a Dutch government after the 2021 elections took 299 days!
So I’m not sure if it’s taken that long before how this sounds the death knell for Wilders’ prime ministerial hopes. Maybe because he is so unpopular with the elites and the press in general, they’re just hoping this is the end of him.
Wilders wants to move ahead without any major new taxes or tough budget cuts, and that seems to be the sticking point for one of the rising new parties’ positions. They want to be tougher on the financial side, and so they withdrew from the negotiations.
Ruling Brussels elite ensconced in their capital building were in the basement madly sacrificing organically raised chickens to EU idols to knock Wilders out for good.
Unbeknownst to them, Wilders had been softening some of his stances during the intervening months of talks, even as EU Bond Villains spewed their collective invective about the dangers of rising right-wing radicalism.
As of yesterday, Wilders had successfully chosen Door Number One on “Let’s Get a Deal Done.”
I’ll bet the air went out of some rooms.
Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders on Wednesday said a deal had been reached to form what was set to be the most right-wing government in the Netherlands in decades, almost six months after a major election victory.
Wilders, who has influenced Dutch immigration policy from the opposition benches since 2006 and is known for his outspoken views on Islam, announced the successful outcome between four parties.
“We have an agreement among negotiators,” Wilders, who had already forfeited the position of prime minister to get the parties to the negotiating table, told journalists in The Hague.
Talks had dragged on for months since Wilders’ upset election victory on Nov. 22, with immigration, finances and climate among the key sticking points.…A breakthrough in the discussions was reached in March as Wilders, 60, toned down anti-EU and anti-Islam rhetoric, and dropped opposition to all military support for Ukraine.
The announcement followed 16 hours of talks into the early hours of Wednesday during which key financial differences were ironed out.
Even as Wilders announced the agreement, the EU was trying to torpedo the new government with dire warnings of “instability,” “inexperience,” and – most troubling – Wilders’ tendency to use social media when he didn’t like the way something was going.
QUELLE HORREUR
…Louise van Schaik, head of EU & global affairs at the Clingendael think tank in The Hague, cautioned that even as the parties agreed to share power, the issue of prime minister could still be problematic.
If formed, the coalition could be “inherently unstable” due to inexperienced ministers, or lack of poltical connections within the new parties.
Trouble could also arise if cracks emerged between Wilders and decision makers in a new cabinet, with Wilders using social media to express his opposition to policy decisions he doesn’t like. “It could be a very unstable construction,” she added.
The EU does like things neat, tidy, and manicured to their specifications, don’t they?
The creased trousers, climate cultist, prissy pants suit Ursula von der Leyen et al days’ issuing immutable diktats may be coming to a rapid and messy close for all the hanky waving warnings.
For one thing, the EU’s new, all-member binding, 6 BILLION EURO “immigration” policy will find itself up against a determined and well-funded foe, unlike ongoing battles with periphery irritants such as Poland.
Have a listen to what they’ve directed member nations to do. It’s insanity, and Wilders is having none of it. You’ll understand why in about 2 seconds.
The new Dutch government led by Geert Wilders has pledged the “strictest-ever asylum” policy.
Immigration expert Steven Woolfe: “He’s going to give a stronger try than those in the Conservative leadership did to prevent mass illegal migration to the UK.”@ThatAlexWoman pic.twitter.com/eCyon1pwDZ
— Talk (@TalkTV) May 17, 2024
Nuclear is back.
NOT 5 BUT 14 BILLION RESERVED FOR NUCLEAR IN THE NETHERLANDS!!!
We have a new government people! The Dutch officially double their committment for Large Nuclear Reactors, and now add SMRs to the text! Crucial because we have commercial SMR developments ongoing. pic.twitter.com/rXI1zCLuSh
— Mathijs Beckers (@thiesbeckers) May 16, 2024
This almost sounds too good to be true.
— Jay (@OneFineJay) May 16, 2024
No doubt pinching themselves, the Dutch are realizing “It’s true.” The coalition partners have released their united goals in a document called, “Hope, Guts and Pride.”
I’ve excerpted some here (many more categories, each has many more entries):
…Given the title Hoop, lef en trots (hope, guts, and pride) the document is supposed to pave the way for ministers to flesh out actual policy and how the new strategy will be implemented. Nevertheless, it contains a string of detailed plans covering 10 key areas including immigration, the economy, public safety and boosting individual financial security.
“Whether we are talking about feeling secure about the future, healthcare, money in your pocket or the availability of sufficient housing, we have big ambitions,” the four parties say in the introduction. “We also want to reverse the much too high influx of refugees and immigrants. We want farmers, market gardeners and fishermen to have a future again.
Getting to grips with asylum and migration
- Legislation to ensure all local authorities take their fair share of refugees will be scrapped
- Refugees will no longer be given permanent residency permits
- Refugees who fail in their applications will be “deported” as much as possible, including “forced deportations”
- Refugees who are granted the right to stay will no longer have priority to get social housing
Farming, fishing, food security and nature
- The coalition will do “all it can” to adapt European farming regulations with regard to nitrogen-based pollution and enriching Natura 2000 protected areas
- The Netherlands will no longer pursue a more ambitious strategy to improve nature than the rest of Europe
- There will be no compulsory measures to reduce the amount of livestock or compulsory purchase orders for farms
- Cheap “red diesel”, scrapped in 2013, will be brought back for farmers
Energy and climate
- The coalition will keep to current targets and “only develop alternative policies if we don’t reach those targets”
- The climate fund, set up to finance measures to improve the climate will remain in place but will be cut by €1.2 billion
- The Netherlands will develop four rather than two new nuclear power stations
- Heat pumps will not be compulsory and subsidies for electric cars will be scrapped in 2025
- No more gas will be produced from the Groningen fields but drilling will be scaled up in the North Sea
- Wind turbines will be placed offshore as much as possible, taking fishing fleet needs into account
- Subsidies for generating green energy will be cut by €1 billion a year
Drill, baby, drill. Farmers keep their diesel, their farms, AND THEIR COWS. No one has to bankrupt themselves swapping over to heatpumps.
A billion euros out of green subsidies? Whut? You know what that will do to green energy which cannot survive without the government teat to slurp at. Also, people with solar panels are going to lose their advantage in selling power back. They won’t be able to deduct the excess from their power bills anymore. What happens to solar sales?
The list goes on and on.
What a concept – working on the issues in the manner the people who elected you want them addressed (looking at YOU, Paul Ryan)(*spits*).
Against an entrenched, knife-fighting behemoth like the European Union, it’s not going to be easy for Wilders and his partners.
But, by God, it’s going to be great to watch.
What’s especially delicious is that it will all play out on the EU hierarchy’s doorstep. They won’t watch the assault on their sovereignty as it streams from a far off corner of the Carpathians.
Oh, no.
They’re going to be able to literally open a castle window and hear the peasants roar from the front lawn.
Oh, God bless.
This is awesome.