European Commission not concerned about Nexit after PVV's election win

The European Commission is not concerned about the Netherlands leaving the European Union after the PVV’s victory in the parliamentary election. “We continue to count on the strong participation of the Netherlands in the EU,” a spokesperson for the European Commission told ANP.

Geert Wilders hasn’t spoken about a possible “Nexit” in some time, but the Netherlands leaving the European Union is still part of the PVV’s election manifesto. “The PVV wants a binding referendum on this and therefore wants to leave the European Union. The program also states that no more Dutch money will go to Brussels, Italy, and other funds,” BNR’s Europe correspondent Stefan de Vries said.

According to De Vries, despite the European Commission’s stated unconcern, a possible Nexit is at the back of many European politicians’ minds today. “It is the ambition of the largest party in the Netherlands to leave the European Union. That would be a huge problem for the Union. They could still accept Brexit, but a Nexit would mean an end of the European Union.”

Laurens Dassen, the leader of the pro-Europe party Volt, witnessed the PVV’s victory with a “heavy heart,” he told NOS. According to him, Wilders’ party is “diametrically opposed” to everything Volt stands for. “The PVV wants a Nexit, to stop the climate policy, and exclude groups in society.” He is not convinced by Wilders’ promises to put his anti-Islam views “on hold.”

The VVD is “partly to blame for the direction we are now taking,” Dassen said. “Everyone on the VVD’s list must understand the consequences of opening the door to the PVV and take them into account.”

The pan-European party is down from three to two seats in parliament, with almost all the votes counted. Volt will continue to advocate for more cooperation, he added. “We are going to the barricades to show that there is also another way, to ensure that we solve people’s problems.”