THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders said Thursday that he is ready to join the next Dutch coalition government after he surged to a huge election victory that marked a stunning lurch to the far right for a nation once famed as a beacon of tolerance.
The result is sending shockwaves through Europe, where extremist nationalist ideology is putting pressure on democracies that now face the possibility of having to deal with the first far-right prime minister of the Netherlands.
“It is going to happen that the PVV is in the next Cabinet,” Wilders said, using the Dutch abbreviation for his Party for Freedom.
With nearly all votes counted, Wilders’ party was forecast to win 37 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament, more than double the 17 the party secured in the last election.
Wilders got a standing ovation, cake and sparkling wine when he met his lawmakers at the parliament building Thursday morning.
“Can you imagine it? 37 seats!” he said to cheers.
Other political parties were holding separate meetings to discuss the election’s outcome before what is likely to be an arduous process of forming a new governing coalition begins Friday.
Wilders’ election program included calls for a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the European Union, a halt to accepting asylum-seekers and migrant pushbacks at Dutch borders.
It also advocates the “de-Islamization” of the Netherlands. He says he wants no mosques or Islamic schools in the country, although he has been milder about Islam during this election campaign than in the past.
One of the most prominent Muslim organizations in the Netherlands said it had received emails expressing support since the election result.
“That’s reassuring,” the Contact Group Muslims and Government said in a statement. “In addition, Mr. Wilders has said that he will become prime minister of all Dutch people, regardless of their religion, sex or color. The Netherlands is a state governed by the rule of law and we trust that it is a tolerant country.”
