Strasbourg, 13/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 13 September, the political group leaders at the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE) and Hannes Swoboda (S&D), congratulated the pro-European parties on their victory in the early legislative elections in the Netherlands the previous day. The Liberals (VVD) to which the exiting prime minister, Mark Rutte, belongs, obtained 41 of the 150 seats in the parliament (estimate based on 96% of votes), whilst Diederik Samsom's Labour party won 39. While these two pro-European parties have gained seats, the eurosceptic parties have lost some. Geert Wilders' extreme Right, which is in favour of leaving the euro, only has 15 seats, as is the case for Emile Roemer's eurosceptic Socialists.
“This is a slap in the face of populist, eurosceptic politics”, Verhofstadt said, welcoming “the broad Dutch support for the pro-European parties and the faded support for populism and nationalism, thus clearing the way for renewed commitment from the Netherlands to tackle the euro crisis by taking the right decisions in Brussels”. In the opinion of Swoboda, who is “pleased to see that the populist and nationalist parties have failed in the Netherlands”, these elections show “that it is possible to win elections with a clear and pro-European programme. This is a good sign for social democracy in Europe.” The Swedish minister of foreign affairs, Carl Bildt, said on Twitter that it is “distinctly good news” that the populist anti-Europeans “are losing big time”.
Rutte should now return as prime minister, even though he resigned last April. During the elections he appeared close to German ideas on austerity. He could form a coalition with Samsom, who is closer to the French position on economic recovery but who is demanding with regard to budgetary discipline. “Rutte will have to show the way forward in Europe, out of the euro crisis. No country depends so much on good European cooperation for both its safety, its political weight in the world and its economic prosperity as the Netherlands”, said the leader of the ALDE Group. (CG/transl.fl)