The Dutch government collapsed yesterday as Geert Wilders announced that his far-right Party for Freedom, or PVV—which won the country’s 2023 general elections—would quit. The move prompted PM Dick Schoof to resign, although his government will remain in a caretaker role until elections are held and a new administration is in place. (AP)
Our Take
Over the past decade, there have been two narratives that have dominated analysis of Europe’s far-right movements, both of which we’ve explored before. The first is that far-right parties are surging in popularity and becoming increasingly mainstream, unlocking a path to power that once seemed impossible. The second is that despite this growing popularity, they have, with a few exceptions, repeatedly fallen short of governing, as their politics is considered toxic enough by mainstream parties to make forming a coalition with them untenable.
Wilders’ rise in the Netherlands reflects both narratives while complicating them. After more than a decade on the fringes of Dutch politics, his PVV surged to win the 2023 elections, a victory that observers considered the clearest signal yet that Europe’s far-right parties had been normalized.