PM Rutte calls working with anti-Islam PVV his biggest mistake

Working with anti-Islam party PVV in his first cabinet was the biggest mistake Prime Minister Mark Rutte made in his career, Rutte said on television program WNL on Sunday.

Rutte added that he isn't saying he never should have done that "experiment", according to RTL Nieuws. "If the party is willing, with 24 seats, to become part of the power, then you have to try it", the Prime Minister said. According to him, things went well for 18 months "until it became stressful", and PVV leader Geert Wilders refused to take any responsibility.

The Prime Minister still prefers Wilders above Thierry Baudet, leader of new nationalist party FvD. When explaining why, Rutte pointed to Baudet raising doubts about the independence of the investigation into the MH17 disaster, and repeatedly talking about the "homeopathic dilution" of the Dutch population.

Wilders recently filed charges of discrimination against Rutte, accusing him of discriminating against the Dutch population by giving asylum seekers more benefits, among other things. The Public Prosecutor dropped this case, saying that no crime was committed and that the Public Prosecution Service does not have the authority to prosecute a member of government for an official crime.