The rise of Wilders in the Netherlands is a cautionary tale
for a continent in the midst of a debt crisis, and where painful
recessions, soaring unemployment and surging youth apathy
are fueling the strongest swell of support in decades for
anti-immigrant nationalists.
For more than a generation, European political elites have
sought to fuse the region together by adopting the euro and
a series of treaties that virtually erased national borders
across a vast swath of the continent. But in the recent
surge of the nationalist far right, and to lesser extent the
far left, European leaders are confronting not only a
backlash to a united Europe but also a troubling new hurdle
in their efforts to resolve the 21
/ 2-year-old
debt crisis.
From France to Austria, Greece to Finland, the popularity
of nationalists is growing as politicians like Wilders tap
into voter rage not only over the crisis itself, but also
over the proposed cure being pushed by mighty Germany: harsh
rounds of government cuts and difficult economic overhauls
to restore investor confidence in Europe’s governments.
That austerity crusade is already in danger of derailing,
with even moderate leaders, including Italian Prime Minister
Mario Monti, now saying deep cuts are driving Europe’s
economies into the ground. Other critics, meanwhile, are
arguing the social pain from austerity is playing into the
hands of politicians on the far right and left, who are
portraying the cuts as part of a pattern that has seen
European integration eat away at living standards across
traditionally affluent Western Europe.
Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel has softened her
rhetoric in recent days, playing up the need for policies
that favor growth, though she continues to view fiscal
discipline as a necessary tonic for Europe’s troubles.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, also a fiscal
hawk, called last week for a “growth compact,” and European
leaders appear likely to work out a series of modest policy
changes in late June.
In the turmoil of the debt crisis, ideas long held by
European radicals are going mainstream as centrist
politicians seek to find their way in a sea of discontent.
In France, for instance, Marine Le Pen of the National Front
stunned observers by winning almost one out of every five
votes in the first round of presidential elections a week
ago on a platform that would have seen Paris withdraw from
the euro and buck the German-led austerity drive. Now on the
ropes against his Socialist opponent, President Nicolas
Sarkozy is currying the favor of the far-right ahead of the
decisive second vote, vowing to pull France out of the
region’s open-borders treaty if negotiations underway to
stem the tide of transplants from poorer quarters of Europe
do not succeed in the months ahead.
In crisis-devastated Greece,
opinion polls ahead of the May 6 elections show the
once-obscure Golden Dawn — which wants to plant landmines on
the country’s borders to protect against illegal immigrants
— is on a surprise track to win seats in parliament.
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party is running strong in
opinion polls and last year, Finland’s nationalist True
Finns Party took a record 19 percent of the vote.
“It is now only a matter of time before one of these
parties gets into power and tries to pull the rug out from
under the euro,” said Maurice de Hond, a leading Dutch
political pollsters. “If it doesn’t happen in the
Netherlands, it will happen somewhere else in Europe. I am
sure of it.”
Here in the Netherlands, Wilders, 48, rose from political
obscurity during the past decade to become one of the most
influential far-right politicians in Europe.
Wilders – who spent time in his youth on an Israeli kibbutz
— is pro-Israel and staunchly anti-Islam. Describing Islam
as a religion of violence and hate that wants to “enslave”
the West, he has called for the closure of Muslim schools,
made a high profile anti-Muslim film and wants forced
registration of all Dutch citizens holding two passports.
In 2010, he was put on trial on charges of inciting hate,
though observers say the perceived liberal bias of judges
and his eventual acquittal only elevated his popularity. It
served him well at the ballot box, with his six-year-old
party winning so many seats in elections later that year
that the center-right government required his support to
stay in power.
His attempts to portray himself as a victim of the liberal
elite has made him a darling of the right in the United
States, where he has secured space on the Wall Street
Journal’s op-ed page. Wilders is now set to promote a new
book published in the United States this week, Marked for
Death, Islam’s War Against the West and Me.
Yet he also defies easy political description. Wilders is,
for instance, a strong supporter of same-sex marriage. And
he has been nothing if not a savvy reader of the political
winds. Earlier this year, political observers say he made
the calculation to seize on Europe’s debt crisis. The move
seemed politically well timed, as the economically strong
and fiscally conservative Dutch suddenly found themselves in
recession and struggling to enact budget cuts demanded by
European agreements.
“He is master at capitalizing on fear,” said Jozias Van
Aarsten, mayor of The Hague and elder statesmen from the
Liberal Party, which Wilders broke with in 2004.
Targeting Poles
In February, Wilder’s party launched a Web site targeting
the Polish immigrants who had come by the thousands as the
Netherlands opened its door to more workers from poorer
parts of the European Union in the mid-2000s. The site
invited Dutch citizens to report Eastern Europeans for doing
anything from “taking your parking spaces” to “taking your
jobs.”
Malgorzata Karczewska, who runs a Polish language news site
in the Netherlands, said many Dutch seemed embarrassed by
the move, but the Web site also brought latent animosity to
the surface. One Polish migrant, she said, repeatedly had
her tires slashed. Others were insulted in public for
speaking Polish. A week after the site came out, Karczewska
said a waitress accused her of stealing cutlery while dining
at a fine restaurant. “After 9/11, he made all Muslims the
scapegoat in Holland,” she said. “Now, it’s the Poles.”
In March, Wilders accelerated his anti-Europe line, openly
calling for the Netherlands to abandon the euro. Positioning
himself as a champion of the working class, he refused to
sign on to budget cuts demanded by European leaders, causing
the government to fall and forcing Prime Minister Mark Rutte
to tender his resignation last week.
Though scrambling Dutch parties reached a key budget deal
Thursday, analysts warned that the nation still faces months
of political turmoil and a possible loss of its cherished
AAA credit rating.
Opinion polls suggest that Wilders may have taken at least
a temporary hit by forcing the fall of the government this
week, but observers say he is banking on domestic anxiety
over crisis to crest come early Election Day in September.
“We are against Europe,” Wilders, unbowed, said this week.
“We are against the euro.”
