The day after Geert Wilders’ surprise victory in the Dutch legislative elections, the European extreme right all – or almost all – sent him their congratulations; contrasting with the almost general silence of the heads of state or government of the European Union.
Only Viktor Orban publicly reacted to the conquest of 35 seats by the Party for Freedom (PVV), a populist and Islamophobic group. “The wind of change is here,” rejoiced the Hungarian nationalist prime minister on X.
Rejection of the far right? Simple prudence, while Mr. Wilders is not guaranteed to constitute a majority around the PVV? No other leader of the Twenty-Seven, and not the least institutional leader, has yet ventured to endorse the success of the nationalist. A historic breakthrough that most European leaders from his own camp, conversely, did not fail to applaud.
In France, Marine Le Pen (National Rally) quickly praised the “spectacular performance” of her “ally”. This victory “demonstrates that more and more countries within the European Union are contesting its functioning and wish to control immigration which is considered by many people as massive and anarchic”, she judged on France Inter, Thursday Morning.
Convicted for his comments on immigration
Asked about Mr Wilders’ desire to hold a referendum to leave the EU, she replied: “It is up to the Dutch people to choose their destiny, as indeed the British people have done. » But the president of the RN group in the National Assembly seems to consider that such consultations are no longer necessary, because “the victory of the PVV tells us [that] we have the possibility, as long as the French mobilize, to be able to change radically the majority within the European Union”.
His competitor on the far right during the last presidential election, Eric Zemmour (convicted, like Mr. Wilders, by the courts for comments made against immigration), also sent his “congratulations”. “Like Reconquest! [the party of Mr. Zemmour], he has made the fight against Islamization and the “great replacement” of his country a priority. It’s an emergency for all of Europe,” the former Figaro journalist wrote on X.
In Italy, Matteo Salvini, leader of the League and minister of infrastructure, relayed on the same social network the “extraordinary electoral victory” of a “historic ally” of his party. The president of the council, Giorgia Meloni – nor her party, Fratelli d’Italia – has spoken on the subject.
“More and more Europeans are demanding in the streets and at the polls that their nation, their borders and their rights be defended,” exults in Spain the president of Vox, Santiago Abscal. In Belgium, Tom Van Grieken, leader of the Flemish far-right party Vlaams Belang, celebrates a “big party in the Netherlands” on X: “It is clear that the population aspires to real change. Not only in the Netherlands, but also in Flanders. Parties like ours are emerging all over Europe! »