Fasten Your Seatbelts…

It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I was in despair back in November last year when the right-wing party of Geert Wilders gained the most seats in the Dutch general election. It has taken since then until now for the formation of a four-party coalition government to be agreed (Wilders thought it would take a week).

And as expected, the end result does not look good. A hard line on asylum-seekers and migrants, soft-pedalling on the farmers and a reduction of measures to combat the effects of climate change and the protection of Nature.

If this government wants to put the money where their mouth is, they are going to have to do battle with Brussels. This, of course, is exactly what Wilders wants so that he can claim that the EU is hindering the execution of his plans. Right-wing populism is not what I signed up for when I became a Dutch citizen in 2006. Wilders may claim that he is doing what is right for all Dutch citizens, but it’s not in my name.