Wilders Drops 'Nexit' Pledge In PVV Euro Parl't Election Manifesto

In a move viewed as a further concession to parties that he is looking to form a gov't with, Geert Wilders - leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) - has removed a pledge for a 'binding referendum' on the Netherlands' membership of the European Union from its manifesto ahead of the 6 June European Parliament election. Instead the manifesto claims that the PVV will “put our energy into reforming the European Union from within".

• The PVV holds the most seats in the Dutch House of Representatives and since the November 2023 election has sought to form a coalition or minority gov't. The inability to do so has seen Wilders step back from the frontline, confirming that in any gov't formed he would not take the PM's office. Nevertheless, agreement has proved elusive.
• Opinion polling shows that support for the PVV has climbed even higher from the record vote and seat share recorded in 2023. Indeed, polling ahead of the EP election shows the PVV on course to emerge as the largest Dutch party in the EP with ~9 out of 31 seats (up from zero in the 2019 election).
• Over the coming months other parties will face a stark choice: forming a gov't involving the PVV without Wilders, cobbling together a likely-unstable coalition that does not involve the PVV, or triggering snap elections in which the PVV's seat total could rise from 37 out of 150 to 50+ according to polls.