Tag: Frans Timmermans

Far-right leader Geert Wilders wins Dutch election: Exit poll

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SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands — The anti-Islam, euroskeptic radical Geert Wilders is projected to be the shock winner of the Dutch election. 

In a dramatic result that will stun European politics, his Freedom Party (PVV) is set to win around 35 of the 150 seats in parliament — more than double the number it secured in the 2021 election, according to exit polls.

Frans Timmermans’ Labour-Green alliance is forecast to take second place, winning 25 seats — a big jump from its current 17. Dilan Yeşilgöz, outgoing premier Mark Rutte’s successor as head of the center-right VVD, suffered heavy losses and is on course to take 24 seats, 10 fewer than before, according to the updated exit poll by Ipsos for national broadcaster NOS.

A win for Wilders will put the Netherlands on track — potentially — for a dramatic shift in direction, after Rutte’s four consecutive centrist governments. The question now, though, is whether any other parties are willing to join Wilders to form a coalition. Despite emerging as the largest party, he will struggle to find an overall majority in parliament.

To the soundtrack of Rocky, Eye of the Tiger, Wilders greeted his supporters in a cafe on the Dutch coast with a big smile. “The voters have spoken tonight and they have said that they are fed up,” he said. “We are going to make sure that Dutch voters will be put first again.”

The party wants to work toward curbing the “asylum tsunami,” putting more money in people’s wallets and better security, Wilders added.

He extended a hand to other parties, declaring it is time to work together to come up with solutions. Wilders even suggested he would be willing to compromise on his anti-Muslim ideals for the sake of entering government. “I understand very well that parties do not want to be in a government with a party that wants unconstitutional measures,” he said. “We are not going to talk about mosques, Qurans and Islamic schools.”

Nexit?

Wilders’ anti-Islam rhetoric was a clear part of the PVV’s program for government. The party proposed to ban mosques and the Quran, and forbid Islamic headscarves in government buildings. Wilders is also a hardline euroskeptic, who has called for a so-called “Nexit” referendum on leaving the EU. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was quick to congratulate Wilders, writing on X: “The winds of change are here!”

“This exit poll is historic; it is the biggest shift we have ever seen in the Netherlands,” political scientist Tom van der Meer told national broadcaster NOS.

According to Van der Meer, three things might explain Wilders’ unexpected win. “First, we have had a center cabinet for 11 years. In response to that, voters mainly went to the flanks. Second, migration was a big theme and voters quickly think of the PVV when they think of that issue. Lastly, VVD leader Yeşilgöz opened the door to the PVV as a coalition partner. In the Netherlands, people have long been looking for a party that is more outspoken than the VVD, but can govern. Now that door to the PVV is open, they have found it.”

Even though Wilders has won the most seats, it is unlikely that he will end up as prime minister.

Yeşilgöz said on Tuesday that she ruled out supporting Wilders as prime minister if he won the largest share. And Pieter Omtzigt, whose newly formed party is projected to win 20 seats, has previously ruled out joining forces with Wilders at all, saying his anti-Islam policies go against freedoms of expression and religion that are enshrined in the Dutch constitution. Timmermans has also set himself firmly against supporting Wilders.

Wilders’ PVV held its election campaign party in a small café in Scheveningen, a beach town next to The Hague. The cramped room erupted in cheering when the first exit poll was announced.

The result was a big shock for PVV officials, too. The venue was only booked three days ago after Wilders made an unexpected surge in the polls.

The green-left alliance led by Timmermans gathered to watch the results at a large venue in the Westerpark in Amsterdam.

Loud cheers filled the main room after the VVD’s losses were announced, along with the alliance’s own projected gains.

But afterwards, the room was abuzz with talk of Wilders’ win.

Hold each other tight

The Greens’ Jesse Klaver, who leads the faction in the Dutch parliament, was the first to climb onto the stage in Amsterdam, to loud applause. He said he was “shocked” by the result. “We always defended the rule of law and this will be more needed than ever in the future.”

Timmermans spoke after Klaver. While he congratulated Wilders on his win, Timmermans took aim at his far-right PVV, vowing he will “never enter into a coalition with a party that excludes Dutchmen.”

Timmermans began his speech by asking his audience to hold each other tight, because “in the Netherlands we never let go of anyone.” He added: “Let’s make a fist against exclusion.”

He admitted he was disappointed by the outcome, and “also our own result.” Timmermans added: “Now is the time when we are going to defend democracy.”

Almost one hour after the first exit poll dropped, Yeşilgöz spoke to her party colleagues, admitting the result had not been what they expected.

“I think there are big lessons for politicians in this. People were not listened to enough, and not enough workable solutions were offered. The lead is not with us now. But I am incredibly proud of the party and of all of you,” she said.

She ended the short speech thanking her team and supporters, and left the stage to the sound of Dua Lipa’s Dance the Night followed by Avicii’s Wake me Up.

Omtzigt responded enthusiastically to the “great results” of the first exit poll. Speaking to his supporters, he said he wanted to be in the next government, but acknowledged that it will not be “easy,” and will require politicians to step over their own shadow. “The Netherlands will have to be governed and we are available for that.” Omtzigt had previously ruled out joining forces with Wilders. His comments did not specify which parties he’d be willing to work with.

Pieter Haeck reported from Amsterdam and Jakob Hanke Vela reported from The Hague.

This story is being updated.



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The EPP Group is wrong to spurn the EU’s nature restoration law

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By Olivier De Schutter, Co-Chair, and Emile Frison, Panel Expert, IPES-Food

It’s time politicians abandon these cynical games and tackle the challenges we are facing seriously, Olivier De Schutter and Emile Frison write.

Before walking out of the negotiations on the Nature Restoration Law last week, the EPP parliamentary group shared a rather dramatic list of problems with the European Commission’s proposal. 

In a series of tweets in the group’s social media feed, it was claimed that the proposed law would lead to “increased food prices” and “even a global famine”. 

As the European Parliament prepares to vote on the law on Thursday, we need a reality check — and an end to scaremongering around NRL and the EU’s Farm2Fork strategy.

Growing more food is not the solution to rising hunger

The reality today is that the world already produces more than enough food to feed a growing population, according to UN data. 

Indeed for the past two decades, the rate of global food production has increased faster than the rate of population growth. 

But unlike what voices for ever-more intensification claim, this hasn’t stopped rising hunger.

Rising hunger has little to do with levels of production — and everything to do with where that food goes and doesn’t go. 

Around a third of the food we produce is thrown away or left to rot. 

A vast majority of the world’s calories are used to feed animals — livestock takes up nearly 80% of global agricultural land (factoring in feed) while producing less than 20% of the calories. And around one-tenth of all grain is turned into biofuel. 

Growing more food to direct to any of these ends will do nothing to reduce hunger or famine.

This helps to explain why, after the invasion of Ukraine, even as global diplomatic efforts succeeded in getting Ukrainian grain flowing again and emergency measures enabled the planting of fallow land set aside for nature protection, food price inflation still remains stubbornly above 5%, and queues for food banks are no shorter. 

It turns out most of the extra production was used to grow animal fodder. Meanwhile, rising supermarket prices are connected far more to profiteering than they are to environmental regulation.

‘Feed the world’ advocates are missing the point

We have to be honest about the situation. Never has our food system been so industrialised, chemically intensive, and global. 

Yet it has resulted in three food price crises in 15 years. And progress on global hunger is in reverse — thanks to volatile speculation-prone commodity markets and a debt crisis that is bankrupting countries and preventing them from tackling hunger. 

It has long been known that the problem of hunger is one of distribution and poverty — but Big Food lobbyists continue to claim the contrary.

The “feed the world” advocates of the EPP are missing the forest for the trees. 

The biggest risk to food production of all is climate change and the current industrial model that is decimating nature and making it harder to sustain necessary levels of production in the long term. 

Climate change wiped nearly 10% off EU yields for some crops last year – and is already ravaging farm incomes on a regular basis.

Farmers are the victims of the existing system, too

Just last month, Italy experienced devastating floods destroying swathes of its agricultural heartland. 

Spain and Portugal, toiling under one of the worst droughts in recent history, have requested the activation of the European Food Security Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism for the first time ever because their food security is at risk. 

We know that soil degradation, chemical contamination, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss are putting crop yields at risk — and that industrial farming is a primary cause. 

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans is right when he says that food cannot grow “when the soil is dead and that there are crop failures due to drought”.

Farmers, the backbone of our food systems, are being hit hard by both economic and climate instability. 

They face price volatility, both for the inputs they buy and for the products they sell.

Though giant agri-food corporations are reaping record profits these past two years, farmers are as much victims of the boom-bust cycle of food markets as consumers — where price surges lead farmers into overproduction, prompting farmgate prices to suddenly fall. 

Farmers in some EU countries have even been protesting as they sit on large quantities of unsold commodities.

This can’t continue

We can’t go on like this. If MEPs are serious about feeding the world, they should jump at the opportunity that the Nature Protection Law and the Farm2Fork present.

Not only will it put us on a path to a more sustainable food system, help reduce waste and put more power in the hands of farmers and communities. 

It will also do this while restoring our natural world, increasing biodiversity, and making everyone’s quality of life better.

Failure to take action now will leave Europe confronting a future of climate disaster, decimated biodiversity and water scarcity, with no tools in the box. 

It’s time politicians abandon these cynical games and tackle the challenges we are facing seriously. 

Farmers, consumers, policymakers and corporations — we need to take action for a food system that is much more diverse, resilient, healthy and sustainable in every region.

Will we stay trapped in a cycle of disaster?

There is ample evidence that farming systems that work with nature, like agroecology, provide economic performance, reliable yields, resilience to climate change, and preserve biodiversity. 

Further delaying and diluting the Farm2Fork strategy does nothing for world food security. 

It just keeps us trapped in a cycle of disaster while depriving Europeans of a more resilient future.

Olivier De Schutter is co-chair of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) and UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and Emile Frison is the former director general of Biodiversity International and an IPES-Food panel expert.

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at [email protected] to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.

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