In Europe, the parties that oppose military and financial assistance to Ukraine start winning elections. The victory of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands is especially indicative because the Netherlands is an EU donor.
Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom (PF) won the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands.
"The Party for Freedom will put the Dutch first again. It will effectively run the new government,” party leader Geert Wilders said, speaking to his supporters after the first exit poll showed that more than 2 million people voted for his party.
The official election results will be announced on November 27. The formation of the cabinet will begin on December 8. Wilders is a candidate for the post of prime minister, but he may cede this post to a coalition ally when forming the cabinet.
The Party for Freedom stands against extensive migration (Elon Musk's warning about a civil war in Europe played a role), does not support the idea to welcome new EU members and denies the green agenda, which led to the destruction of farms in the Netherlands in order to achieve "carbon neutrality”.
The Dutch House of Representatives has 150 seats, so a majority requires 76 mandates. Wilders believes that no party will dare to ignore his party when forming the coalition.
The party chaired by outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte with 24 seats, as well as the New Social Contract party led by Peter Omtzigt with 20 mandates may support Geert Wilders and join efforts with his Party for Freedom.
The Netherlands was ready to send tranches worth 2 billion euros from its budget to Ukraine in 2024 (including F-16 fighters). One is only left to wonder whether this is going to happen.
In general, the victory of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands has strengthened the position of right-wing nationalist forces in Europe. The Netherlands is a donor state of the European Union. Wilders will become a powerful ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico. It will now be easier for them to block European tranches for Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Orban wrote a letter to the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, demanding EU policies with regard to Ukraine should be reviewed, Politico said. Otherwise, the Hungarian leader threatens to block EU assistance to Ukraine, as well as the country's future entry into the union.
According to him, the European Council should assess the implementation and effectiveness of the current EU policy towards Ukraine:
"Do we still regard these objectives realistically attainable? Is this strategy sustainable without robust support from the United States? Can we take continuing support from the United States for granted? How do we conceive the security architecture of Europe after the war," Orban wrote.
The EU leadership has no answers to these questions. EU leaders do not want to put the people of Europe above geopolitics, and they will pay for that.