Free Republic

Pro-EU forces across the continent were celebrating the victory of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Liberal Party over upstart populist Geert Wilders Freedom Party. The Liberals have picked up at least 30 seats in the 150 member Dutch Parliament with the Freedom Party gaining 20 seats. But the Dutch voters scattered their support among 5 parties, making Rutte's job of forming a coalition government extremely difficult. The outcome was worse than opinion polls had suggested for Wilders, representing a rejection of his platform of pulling the Netherlands out of the European Union, abandoning the euro, closing Dutch borders and stopping...

With two hours before the polling stations close, experts said turnout in the Dutch general election could top 80%. Some 55% of the 13 million people eligible to vote had cast their ballot by 5.45pm, compared with 48% at the previous election in 2012. The number of voters is so high that extra ballot papers are being printed for polling stations in Amsterdam, The Hague and Tilburg. Utrecht city council said on Twitter that turnout in Utrecht had hit 71% by 7pm, with two hours to go before the polls close. On the Wadden Sea island of Schiermonnikoog turnout topped...

Meeting with the leader of the Christian Union in the last televised debate on the eve of Wednesday’s general election, Party For Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders accused his opposite of failing to stand up for Christians, and said resisting Islam was a matter of survival for the Netherlands. In the format of the election debate, which saw a number of short rounds of discussion between the leaders of the many political parties contesting Wednesday’s election, Mr. Wilders was allowed to introduce a motion which would then be debated. Revealing he had selected to discuss Islam, Wilders said he’d picked...

Mr Wilders, the leader of the anti-Islamist Party for Freedom (PVV), is taking on Mr Rutte, from the Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), in the knife-edge election race. The blonde populist has already cast his vote in the election after a fiery election campaign in which he pledged to shut the country's borders, ban the Koran and close mosques. 11am GMT update: Many PVV voters are backing Mr Wilders in order to rock the political establishment and voice their anger over sky-high immigration. "I am voting for Wilders. I hope he can make a change to make the Netherlands...

* Concern over Islam, globalisation drive Wilders' support * Focus on tolerance hid concerns over immigration * Wilders' party could top snap election-poll By Aaron Gray-Block AMSTERDAM, March 5 (Reuters) - After scoring gains in local elections, Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders is now primed to make waves in a national poll in June by tapping into discontent over Islam and globalisation. In the first test of public opinion since the collapse of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's coalition government last month, Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) became the largest party in the city of Almere and came second in The...