This week, the Netherlands delivered a textbook lesson in twenty-first-century authoritarian drift as Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom cemented its position as the country’s dominant force in the wake of the European parliamentary elections. Wilders, the self-styled scourge of multiculturalism, has spent months promising to “restore Dutch identity”—a promise now underwritten by a coalition of anxious conservatives, anxious investors, and equally anxious neighbors across the EU.
The electoral aftershocks weren’t confined to The Hague. In response to Wilders’ rightward surge, Dutch center-left parties announced a historic merger, pooling resources and leadership in a desperate bid to block what The Independent describes as “a near-total takeover by the far right.” Veteran EU official Frans Timmermans, cast as Wilders’ nemesis, now leads the charge for a rearguard defense of Dutch liberalism.
Meanwhile, Europe’s far-right alliances are celebrating their new momentum, with the AfD in Germany, the Freedom Party in Austria, and others seeing Wilders’ triumph as a green light for deeper collaboration across borders. Analysts warn that what’s playing out in the Netherlands—a blend of hard-right rhetoric, performative culture wars, and institutional sabotage—is less a Dutch anomaly than a blueprint for continental drift.
The backlash is equally fierce. Local and international commentators warn of “textbook fascism” masquerading as populist reform, while left-leaning groups organize street protests and legal challenges to Wilders’ policies on immigration, press freedom, and police powers. The right, in turn, accuses the old guard of being out of touch and unwilling to “respect the will of the people”—a familiar refrain in the age of majoritarian strongmen.
Europe’s corridors of power are paying close attention: the Netherlands, once a byword for liberal pluralism, is now an exporter of the same authoritarian energy animating Italy’s hard-right government, Hungary’s Orbánism, and the populist groundswell shaking the EU to its core. Even Dutch foreign policy is shifting, with The Hague becoming increasingly critical of Israel’s actions—a calculated signal to the party’s right flank that “old alliances” are now open to revision.
And as new ultra-right parties surge across Europe, the Netherlands’ culture war becomes a pan-European arms race: who can signal the hardest, legislate the fastest, and redefine “democracy” on their own terms? In Geert Wilders’ Holland, the pendulum swings—wildly, dangerously, and with Europe along for the ride.