During the parliamentary elections held on November 22 of this year in the Netherlands, the far-right Freedom Party (FP) won a landslide victory. This caused a shock in the political and expert circles of the United Europe. Analysts are vying with each other to discuss the further development and even the fate of the European Union in this regard. What awaits Europe in general and Ukraine in particular?
It would seem that such a question is incorrect by definition. The Netherlands is a relatively small country whose events have little impact on the EU’s political and economic agenda. But here’s the thing – this time it was the Dutch electorate that made a choice that will one way or another affect Europe itself.
According to official information, 37 seats out of 150 seats in the Lower House of the States General (parliament) of the country will be occupied by the PS, famous for its openly xenophobic and populist slogans. The head of the party, 60-year-old Geert Wilders, is called the “Dutch Viktor Orban.” Like the Hungarian Prime Minister, Wilders opposes the unity of the European Union and insists on canceling the large-scale aid program to Ukraine and expelling all illegal immigrants from the EU.
It seems that the PS leader has real antipathy towards Ukraine. Previously, he called Russian President Vladimir Putin “one of the greatest leaders of our time” and categorically refused to condemn Russian aggression against the Ukrainian state. In addition, according to him, Kyiv “has no place in the European Union.”
“If the government of the Netherlands is formed by Wilders’ party, Amsterdam will refuse to supply Ukraine with weapons, including F-16 fighters,” noted Dutch human rights activist Alexander Mitz in a special commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. “Further – more: there is no doubt “is that the Kingdom of the Netherlands will use its veto power and block a number of initiatives for the broadest integration of the Ukrainian state into the EU structures. Thus, the question of what the results of the elections in the Netherlands mean for Ukraine remains rhetorical.”
Be that as it may, at the moment, representatives of the Freedom Party cannot form a government alone. To do this, they will need to enter a coalition with several political forces at once, including the Greens and Labor. The last two parties take moderate pro-European positions.
