The far-right, Islamophobic party of Geert Wilders won by a margin in the parliamentary elections held yesterday, Wednesday, in the Netherlands and will start looking for partners to form a coalition government.

Wilders’ party PVV (Party of Freedom) gathers 37 seats in the parliament, out of 150 in totalmore than Frans Timmermans’ Labor-Greens coalition (25) and outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party’s 24 seats, according to near-final results.

“The Rutte era ends with a far-right, populist uprising that shakes (The Hague) to its foundations,” commented the centre-right Dutch newspaper NRC.

A coalition of the PVV, VVD and the new New Social Contract (NSC) party of centrist MP Peter Omzigt holds 81 seats, making it the most obvious combination. But it is likely to take months of difficult talks to reach a deal, as none of the parties with which Wilders could form a government share his anti-European views.

“I am convinced that we can reach an agreement,” he said during his speech late yesterday. “We want to govern (…) and we will govern”, he emphasized.

During the election campaign Wilders played down the tone, preferring to focus on issues such as the cost of living, to the extent that some analysts started calling him “Hert Milders”.

But despite Wilders’ apparent change in tone, his party’s positions remain the same. His election platform includes freezing asylum procedures, a referendum on whether or not the Netherlands remains in the EU, and increasing oil and gas production, among others.

Islam

“With the reducing the influx of asylum seekers and immigration to the Netherlandsthe Islamization of our country will be limited,” the PVV campaign program states.

“The Netherlands is not an Islamic country: no Muslim schools, no Korans and no mosques.” “We want less Islam in the Netherlands and we will achieve this thanks to less non-Western immigration and a complete suspension of asylum.”

It also provides for “the banning of the Islamic headscarf in government buildings.”

Immigration

After his victory Wilders stated that “the Netherlands will return to the Dutchthe tsunami (of) asylum and immigration will be stemmed.”

In its programme, the PVV envisages an “asylum freeze” and “a generally more restrictive immigration policy”, as well as a departure from European rules on asylum and immigration.

The party wants Dutch border controls restored and asylum seekers trying to enter the Netherlands from “neighboring, safe countries” sent back.

Illegal immigrants will be arrested and deported. Syrians whose asylum applications have been accepted will also be deported because “some areas of Syria are now safe”. Refugees who have received a residence permit will lose it “if they go on vacation in their country of origin.”

Europe

The PVV wants “the Netherlands sovereign, the Netherlands responsible for its own currency, its own borders and adopting its own rules”.

Consequently the party rejects any “political union”, like the EU, “an institution that usurps more and more powers, monopolizes taxpayers’ money and imposes its orders on us”.

Wilders’ party wishes “the holding of a binding referendum on Nexit“, the departure of the Netherlands from the EU.

Pending this referendum, the Netherlands wants to receive more European funds, but not to contribute more money to the European budget than it receives.

The party also rejects any new expansion of the EU and wants to restore the right of veto in Brussels.

Finally, the PVV wants the EU flag to be flown from government buildings. “We are in the Netherlands, only the national flag flies here.”

Foreign Policy

“Our basic principle is this: to act in the interest of the Netherlands and the Dutch. Our country is above all».

The PVV “is a great friend of the only real democracy in the Middle East: Israel,” the party’s political manifesto states. “Relations with Israel will be strengthened, among other things, by moving our embassy to Jerusalem,” he notes.

Wilders has also pledged to close the Dutch delegation in Ramallah, home to the “corrupt Palestinian Authority”.

The Netherlands will “immediately” cut off diplomatic relations with countries that implement sharia and those that have threatened the lives of Dutch parliamentarians.

Besides, Wilders has repeatedly stated that the Netherlands should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, as the country needs them to defend itself.

“We will have to find ways to meet the expectations of our voters. Let’s put the Dutch first”, he has emphasized.

Climate

“For decades now they have been bullying us with climate change (…) We must stop being afraid”, emphasizes the PVV.

The Netherlands has the world’s best scientists specializing in hydraulic engineering and should not panic in the face of rising sea levels, he says in his election manifesto.

At the same time he asks to increase oil and gas extraction from the North Sea and keep coal or gas-fired power plants open.

“The PVV also favors the rapid construction of new nuclear plants.”