The Dutch GreenLeft-Labor alliance has elected Jesse Klaver as its new leader to succeed Frans Timmermans after slumping to defeat in last week’s election. Timmermans resigned on election night immediately after exit polls put his party in fourth place with a loss of five seats — a major setback for a party that had been an election favorite ahead of the vote. “Sometimes, leadership means taking a step back,” Klaver, in a nod to his predecessor’s decision, said following his appointment Monday. “But sometimes you also have to take a step forward when the situation calls for it. That’s what I did today,” Klaver added, according to a local media report. Timmermans, a former European commissioner, quit Brussels politics in 2023 to return to the Dutch political scene and take the reins of the newly formed alliance between the GreenLeft and Labor parties. Klaver, who is 39, previously led the GreenLeft party and was Timmermans’ second-in-command over the past two years.  The centrist liberal D66 party is in pole position to form a new Dutch coalition after its narrow victory in the election. One possible coalition would include GreenLeft-Labor, as well as the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal and the conservative liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). That’s far from a done deal, however, as VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz had repeatedly ruled out governing with GreenLeft-Labor.

Catherine de Vries is Generali chair in European policies and professor at Bocconi University in Milan. Last week, Dutch voters rewarded the political center. The centrist-liberal D66 and center-right Christian Democratic Appeal benefited from a gowing appetite for stability, while the race for the largest party ended in a photo finish between D66 and Geert Wilders’s far-right Freedom Party. With no group receiving more than a fifth of the vote, upcoming coalition talks promise to be complicated, and a majority government before the holidays looks unlikely. As with so many recent elections across the continent, the EU was again the elephant in the room. Bloc-wide issues barely featured in the campaign ahead of the vote, yet the result could have far-reaching consequences for the Netherlands’ role in Brussels. What is already clear is that the Dutch electorate voted far more pro-European than it did in 2023. Indeed, it seems the Euroskepticism that once dominated the political mood has given way to a quiet mandate for cooperation and reform — an unmistakably pro-EU signal to The Hague. And if D66 leader Rob Jetten can succeed in becoming the party’s first prime minister, it would mark a decisive shift in the country’s policy toward the bloc. D66 has long been the most outspokenly pro-EU party across the Dutch political spectrum. Speaking to POLITICO after the election, Jetten argued that the Netherlands should use its veto power far less often and instead “say yes to cooperation more often.” “Europe risks stagnation if we fail to deepen integration. The Netherlands helped found the Union, now we should help shape its future,” he said. These words signal a clear break from the previous government of technocrat Dick Schoof, which had been largely invisible in Brussels. As Dutch broadcaster NOS recently reported, the country’s influence in the EU has “withered.” Or, as one senior EU diplomat bluntly put it: “No one listens to the Dutch anymore.” Schoof’s administration had begun with high expectations — exemptions on asylum, nitrogen and nature rules, and a lower contribution to the EU budget — but the reality in Brussels proved unforgiving. The Netherlands often found itself isolated, and its attempts to secure “opt-outs” were quietly abandoned. A Jetten premiership could reverse this pattern. Though similarly pragmatic, even Schoof’s predecessor Mark Rutte was ultimately cautious, wary of treaty reform and collective borrowing. But Jetten signals a readiness to go further, as D66 sees the Netherlands as a natural bridge-builder and a key player in European integration. Moreover, part of the Schoof government’s weakness was its lack of European experience. A technocrat without party backing, he struggled to build political capital in Brussels. Jetten, by contrast, is well-connected. Like Rutte, he belongs to Renew Europe group, the liberal alliance associated with French President Emmanuel Macron — a link that once amplified Dutch influence beyond its size. And if D66 leader Rob Jetten can succeed in becoming the party’s first prime minister, it would mark a decisive shift in the country’s policy toward the bloc. | Pierre Crom/Getty Images Of course, today even this network has become fragile. Macron’s domestic troubles have diminished his clout in Brussels, and with it, the gravitational pull of the liberal camp. Meanwhile, Brussels itself is more fragmented than ever. European politics has become a patchwork of competing national priorities, with southern members demanding more collective investment, northern countries — including the Netherlands — still preaching fiscal discipline, eastern members prioritizing defense and security, and western governments focused on industrial policy and competitiveness. Then, there are the external pressures to consider: The U.S. expects Europe to shoulder more of its own defense, while China is forcing the bloc to rethink its economic dependencies. In such a fragmented landscape, speaking with one European voice is hard enough — acting in unison is harder still. Ultimately, though, how the next Dutch government positions itself in this European maze, and Jetten’s ability to deliver, will largely depend on domestic politics and the coalition he can forge. The irony here is that if the center-left Green–Labor alliance or the Christian Democrats had emerged as the largest party, alignment with Europe’s dominant political currents might have been easier, finding natural allies in Spain’s Pedro Sánchez or German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. But with D66 securing less than 20 percent of the vote, Jetten will have to govern in a broad coalition that includes parties far less enthusiastic about Europe. Still, even a Jetten-led coalition could boost Dutch influence precisely because it would span multiple European party families at once. In Brussels, where informal networks often matter just as much as votes, that could give the Netherlands renewed diplomatic weight. Facing the strategic dilemma of reconciling domestic compromise with European ambition, Jetten’s political style — pragmatic, conciliatory and consensus-driven — may also prove to be an asset here. During election-night coverage, one journalist even called him “the new Rutte” due to their shared instinct for timing and coalition-building. But Jetten couples this with a much clearer European vision. In his post-election remarks to POLITICO, the D66 leader left little room for doubt: “Europe must evolve into a serious democratic world power, with the means and authority to do what citizens expect — protect our borders from Putin, grow our economy and safeguard the climate,” he said. For years now, Dutch politics have been oscillating between pragmatic euro-realism and latent Euroskepticism. But this election may finally signal the pendulum’s slow return toward a more pro-Europe center, rooted in the quiet understanding that the Netherlands and the EU rise and fall together.

The centrist liberal D66 party has won the Dutch election, according to the national press agency ANP. Rob Jetten’s D66 and Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) emerged as the equal largest in Wednesday’s election with 26 parliament seats each, but with almost all votes counted, ANP said Friday that D66 could not be caught for first place. It’s a narrow victory, with the party just 15,155 votes ahead of the PVV, with 99.7 percent counted. The result means Jetten is in pole position to piece together a coalition government — a right typically reserved for the largest party — and to become the Netherlands’ prime minister if he succeeds.  D66 and the PVV finished ahead of the center-right liberals of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which won 22 seats in Wednesday’s vote; the left-wing GreenLeft-Labor alliance, which secured 20 seats; and the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), which collected 18. Conservative JA21 is the largest of the smaller parties, with nine seats. Jetten has already made clear he sees the need for a broad coalition, as D66 is a “small large party” by Dutch standards, though caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof said Friday that the process won’t be quick. Forging a coalition could become tricky if it involves convincing the center-right VVD and the left-wing GreenLeft-Labor alliance to join the same government, after bitterly campaigning against one another. “Twenty-six seats after all, just like D66. Nobody beats the PVV. Absolutely nobody!” Wilders posted defiantly on X on Thursday. On Friday, he added that, “Whatever the outcome will be nationally, the PVV is once again the largest party in many provinces, including Limburg” — Wilders’ own province. His PVV was the largest party in the Netherlands’ previous coalition government. It was a Cabinet marked by infighting, which collapsed when Wilders withdrew his party over a dispute over asylum policy. The far-right firebrand has next to no chance of entering the next government as parties have ruled out joining forces with him. With the exception of the VVD, Wilders’ former coalition partners took a beating in Wednesday’s election: The populist Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) lost three of its seven seats; while the centrist New Social Contract was decimated, going from 20 seats in 2023 to zero now. This story has been updated.

Don’t expect a new Dutch government in time for the festive season, caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof said Friday. “I think I’ll still be prime minister by Christmas,” Schoof noted on his way into a Cabinet meeting. He said it will be “quite complicated” to form a new coalition, and that he’d be “surprised” if it were done before decorations go up. Centrist liberal Rob Jetten’s D66 party and Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) are still vying for first place as the final votes are counted following the national election on Wednesday. Both won 26 seats in the Netherlands’ 150-strong parliament, according to nearly complete results; while the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) won 22, the left-wing GreenLeft-Labor (GL-PvdA) alliance got 20 and the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) snagged 18. The largest party typically gets the right to try to assemble a governing coalition first. Jetten’s D66 is slightly ahead of Wilders’ PVV with a margin of just 15,000 votes, with 99.7 percent counted nationally. Still, the results of the last municipality are due Friday, and the tally of an estimated 90,000 mail votes is expected Monday. Regardless of the outcome, Wilders has next to no chance of joining the next government, let alone leading it, as several parties have ruled out collaborating with his party. That means Jetten is the favorite to become the new prime minister. But VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz also repeatedly ruled out governing with GreenLeft-Labor in the run-up to the election, potentially complicating D66-led negotiations. With 26 seats, D66 would be an exceptionally small largest party in the government, and without GreenLeft-Labor, a future coalition would require five parties to reach a majority. That doesn’t have to be a problem, however, Schoof said, looking across the border for inspiration. “That’s what they have in Belgium, so it’s possible,” he said. The number of parties doesn’t matter, as long as you “agree on what you want to do, and then stick together and support each other,” he added. This week’s vote came just two years after the Netherlands’ previous election. Schoof’s government, a coalition of PVV with the VVD, the centrist New Social Contract (NSC), and the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), was marked by infighting and collapsed within a year when Wilders withdrew his party over a dispute about asylum policy. NSC, with 20 seats, was one of the biggest winners in the 2023 election, but secured none in this week’s vote. Former party leader and founder Pieter Omtzigt left politics earlier this year. Other parties in the former government also lost seats, including Wilders’ PVV, which dropped 11 seats. Schoof acknowledged the parties in his government had been punished, while NSC “evaporated.” “I think people are unhappy with what’s been delivered, and about the fact that the Cabinet hasn’t managed to see things through,” he said.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Is it enough to come first in an election? In the Netherlands, you hear that centrist Rob Jetten won big and Geert Wilders’ far right lost a lot — even though either one could still turn out to be No. 1 when all the votes are counted. Eva Hartog breaks down the results of the Dutch election with host Sarah Wheaton, and Max Griera reflects on what Frans Timmermans’ defeat means for social democrats all over Europe. Then, our Berlaymont Who’s Who series is back, with an introduction to Vice President of the European Commission Roxana Mînzatu of Romania. Finally, Shawn Pogatchnik takes us through last week’s Irish presidential election, which was, in contrast to the Dutch vote, a bright spot for the political left.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Friedrich Merz und Julia Klöckner haben es angekündigt: 2027 soll zum ersten Mal in der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik eine Bundespräsidentin gewählt werden. Doch wer könnte das sein? Gordon Repinski erklärt, wie sich die Union jetzt sortiert, warum Namen wie Karin Prien und Ilse Aigner kursieren und wieso Merz die Fehler der Merkel-Ära vermeiden will. Danach geht der Blick in die Niederlande: Dort erlebt der politische Liberalismus ein Comeback. Die Partei D66 landet nicht nur wie prognostiziert weit vorne, sondern gewinnt überraschend die Wahl. Angeführt wird sie von Rob Jetten, einem neuen Hoffnungsträger auch in der EU. Hans von der Burchard analysiert, wie die Niederlande das rechtspopulistische Experiment um Geert Wilders beenden und wie es jetzt weitergehen wird.  Im 200-Sekunden-Interview zieht Otto Fricke seine Lehren aus dem Wahlsieg der niederländischen Linksliberalen: Was die FDP in Deutschland von Rob Jetten lernen und umsetzen kann, bespricht er mit Gordon Repinski. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. Jetzt kostenlos abonnieren. Mehr von Host und POLITICO Executive Editor Gordon Repinski: Instagram: @gordon.repinski | X: @GordonRepinski.

After two years plagued by infighting and political paralysis, the Dutch tried to turn a page in Wednesday’s seismic election. But the country remains sharply divided: The parties finishing first and second, centrist liberal D66 and the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), are sworn enemies.  During his campaign, D66 leader Rob Jetten cast himself as a foil to PVV firebrand Geert Wilders. And Wilders has said he “basically disagrees with everything [Jetten] says.” Dutch convention has it that the largest party gets first shot at forming a coalition and its leader is favored to become prime minister. That looks like Jetten right now, especially as no one mainstream wants to team up with Wilders. But if talks fail, others can try — meaning the coming weeks remain unpredictable. Once the Heineken wears off, parties will have to decide who they’re willing to work in coalition with, to unravel the country’s complex issues of housing and nitrogen-pollution crises mixed with simmering anti-immigrant sentiment. But that’s for another day. For now, here are election night’s biggest winners and losers. WINNERS Rob Jetten Meet your potential next Dutch prime minister. “We did it!” a victorious Jetten, the 38-year-old D66 leader, told a boisterous crowd in Leiden chanting the party’s campaign slogan: “It is possible.”  The party picked the line to underscore its optimistic campaign promises on housing and education, but the mantra applied also to its result: With a preliminary forecast predicting 26 seats, D66 is on track to achieve its best result ever and become the Netherlands’ largest party after a stunning late surge.  To illustrate its reversal of fortunes: In the 2023 election, D66 won just nine seats, 17 fewer than on Wednesday.  Addressing journalists on election night, Jetten said the results were nothing short of historic, “because we’ve shown not only to the Netherlands but also to the world that it’s possible to beat populist and extreme-right movements.” Fiscally conservative liberals At the start of election night, a visitor attending the election watch party of the center-right liberals of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) joked that they’d gone ahead and “sent out the funeral bouquets.”  The party had been shedding support in the polls, with the gloomiest projections predicting that it could lose 10 seats compared with its 2023 results, which were already down from 2021.  That didn’t happen: According to a preliminary forecast, the party would lose just two seats, finish third in the race and actually emerge from the election as the least-damaged party from the outgoing, right-leaning government. A triumph indeed. “Decent” politics After two years of constant backbiting and a political circus traversing from one scandal to the next, a core of Dutch voters returned to a politics of familiar ideas and the promise of stability.  The main proponent of this, Christian Democrat boss Henri Bontenbal, enthusiastically summarized it in The Hague on Wednesday night: “The Netherlands is gasping for new politics. Respectful and on-topic,” after campaigning with the slogan, “a decent country.” Speaking to POLITICO, Bontenbal admitted that the election came at the right time for his party, as it bounced back from five seats in 2023 to 18 this week on that platform, according to the preliminary forecast. “I really think people are tired of all the old political games that got us here,” he exhaled.  Bontenbal’s CDA wasn’t the only party scoring big with a positive campaign tone — Jetten’s efforts also paid off in spades — which broke through grumpiness characterizing the Dutch political scene after the Wilders-dominated government fell in June. LOSERS Frans Timmermans  Frans Timmermans left his top job at the European Commission in the summer of 2023 to become the face of the Dutch left and to lead a joint green-socialist ticket to victory.  On Wednesday, he failed for the second time.  Timmermans was unable to cash in on a year of chaos under a right-wing government. His party still loved him, as supporters made clear even during his concession speech — but Timmermans realized the Netherlands does not.  The GreenLeft-Labor ticket lost seats compared to the 2023 election, and fell short of poll predictions after a campaign in which it had seemed to emerge as the lead progressive antagonist to the far-right PVV.  But the spell broke on Wednesday, and the green-socialist audience in Rotterdam had to face up to the reality that D66’s Jetten is now the Dutch progressive darling.  Timmermans, after the devastating exit poll, wasted no time in quitting as the alliance leader.  The left Can anything propel left-wing parties to victory — or, frankly, even to gain seats — in the Dutch political landscape?  It’s a tough question for Dutch left-wingers to wrestle with Thursday morning, because the top left-leaning parties — the GreenLeft-Labor alliance and the Socialist Party (SP) — lost ground, according to projections.  The biggest opposition party couldn’t convince voters to back them, and even lost seats, despite being faced with the hardest-right government in Dutch history and the political chaos it ushered in.  The SP fared even worse than Timmermans’ joint ticket; its seat count almost halved, from five to three.   GreenLeft-Labor is already an alliance of two left-wing parties, and both have decided to merge into one single party next year — but they face a rocky road ahead, though could make up part of a Jetten-led coalition. JURY’S OUT Geert Wilders  We’ll never know how Geert Wilders or his supporters reacted to the first exit polls, since, unlike its competitors, the PVV didn’t hold an election watch party. When he did eventually face the press, fiery Wilders was the picture of humility, describing the dramatic loss of 11 seats — more than any other party — as a “heavy setback.” But, careful now, don’t declare him politically finished just yet. After triggering the collapse of the previous government, Wilders risked being ditched by his voters in even larger numbers. A sweeping victory by his left-wing nemesis Timmermans would have added to the humiliation. Neither scenario played out. Instead it was Timmermans who stepped down, while Wilders remains near the top of the political leaderboard.  And although his chances of joining even a right-wing coalition are slim — he’s burned too many bridges for that — he seems primed to return to his role of Dutch politics’ longest-serving outsider, firing shots and tossing bombs at the establishment from the benches of parliament.  “Buckle up, we’re only getting started,” he warned reporters.

LEIDEN, the Netherlands — Waking up bleary eyed this Thursday morning and wondering who won the Dutch election? Well, it’s a stunner.  Here’s our brief explainer on the progressive liberal party that surged in recent weeks to match Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) on the back of a charismatic young leader.  START FROM THE BEGINNING, PLEASE, WHO WON THE DUTCH ELECTION? The liberal-progressive D66 party — short for Democrats 66; founded in 1966, natch — is on track to win 26 seats in the Netherlands’ 150-strong parliament, according to a preliminary forecast. That puts them equal with the hotly tipped Wilders and his PVV, which just two years ago scored a huge election win, and ahead of other mainstream conservative, socialist and liberal parties. OK, D66 THEN, WHAT DO THEY STAND FOR? D66 is a pro-European party that tends to draw in urbanite, high-income voters.  While the party’s pitch in its early days was to have prime ministers and mayors directly elected, in 2025 it focused its campaign on solutions to the Netherlands’ housing crisis, notably with a plan to build new cities. It also picked a hopeful slogan: “It is possible,” evoking former U.S. President Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” optimism. The party campaigned on pledges to focus on “affordable, green energy from our own soil” to keep energy prices down, while securing the “healthiest generation ever” by prioritizing the prevention of illness. It also wants greener residential areas and an emphasis on better education. D66 beefed up its stance on migration, advocating for a system that would have people lodge asylum applications outside Europe, with leader Rob Jetten warily noting the collapse of two successive Dutch governments over asylum policy. The party also pushed to reclaim the red-white-and-blue tricolor flag as something for mainstream Dutch voters to be proud of after angry farmers turned it upside down in protests and Wilders clutched it for populist-nationalist reasons.  At D66’s election night party in Leiden, their leader told reporters the flags are a way to wave goodbye to recent years “where it sometimes seemed like our country can’t be proud anymore. We’re an amazing country and we can make it even better,” he said. SO WHO IS THE LEADER AND WHAT’S HIS DEAL? Once dubbed “Robot Jetten” because of the clunky manner he answered questions, Jetten is now in pole position to become the future prime minister of the Netherlands. Despite the unfavorable early nickname, the 38-year-old — who is openly gay — has since become a charming and media-savvy poster-boy for D66’s positive and progressive-liberal platform. “I’ve become a lot grayer and a lot more experienced,” Jetten joked on election night.  He was in line to head the party back in 2018, but stepped aside in favor of veteran diplomat Sigrid Kaag; a move that won him plaudits among party members.  Jetten took the baton from Kaag in 2023 after her hopes of becoming the Netherlands’ first female prime minister were dashed in the previous election. IS JETTEN REALLY GOING TO BE THE NEXT DUTCH PRIME MINISTER? If the final results confirm the election night projections, he’s certainly in prime position.  But the real work starts next.  Jetten will have to form a coalition and, to get the numbers for a majority, may need to carry out the unenviable task of convincing the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and left-wing GreenLeft-Labor to team up after bitterly campaigning against one another.  The challenge isn’t lost on Jetten. With around 26 seats, D66 is “a small large party, when compared with Dutch history,” he said on election night. “So we’ll have to cooperate with many parties.” Jetten is also well aware of the challenge that has doomed recent Dutch governments. Migration was once more in the spotlight in the run-up to the election “and it is my ambition that in four years’ time, this will no longer need to be an issue,” Jetten told reporters on election night. BACK TO THE PARTY, HAVE THEY BEEN IN GOVERNMENT BEFORE? Many times, including most recently in the third and fourth governments helmed by longtime liberal leader Mark Rutte. Jetten himself was a climate and energy minister in Rutte’s fourth and final government, in which D66 was the second-largest party.  Before that, D66 has joined coalitions on and off since the early 1970s. HAVE I HEARD OF ANY OF THE PARTY BIGWIGS? You likely have: Diplomat and former Foreign Affairs and Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag led D66 from 2020 until 2023, before returning to the United Nations as the organization’s senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.  The EU’s Special Representative for Human Rights Kajsa Ollongren previously filled roles as defense and internal affairs minister for the party.  And then there are the party’s former European lawmakers: Both Marietje Schaake and Sophie in ‘t Veld — who left D66 in 2023 — are well-known names in the Brussels bubble. WHAT’S THEIR POSITION IN BRUSSELS? D66, which is part of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, takes a decidedly more pro-EU stance than we’re used to hearing in the Netherlands, from supporting the implementation of a European migration pact to advocating for the creation of European armed forces.  But despite its pro-European stance, D66 has never filled a major EU post — like, for example, a Dutch commissioner — with most party heavyweights focused on domestic politics instead.  Max Griera contributed to this report.

BRUSSELS — Wednesday’s election in the Netherlands should surely go down as one of the best days Europe’s centrists have enjoyed in years. Geert Wilders, the far-right populist who touted leaving the EU on his way to a shock victory in the 2023 election, lost nearly a third of his voters after 11 chaotic months for his Party for Freedom (PVV) in coalition.  At the same time, the fervently pro-European liberal Rob Jetten surged in the final days of the campaign and stands a good chance of becoming prime minister. At 38, he would be the youngest person to hold the office since World War II and the first openly gay candidate ever to do so.  “Many in the Brussels bubble will welcome the rise of a mainstream, pro-governing and reform-oriented party,” said one EU diplomat, granted anonymity because the subject is politically sensitive. “The Dutch have a lot to contribute to the EU.” But even as they exhale with relief at the end of the Wilders interlude, the inhabitants of Europe’s dominant liberal center-ground — those Brussels officials, diplomats and ministers who run the EU show — would be well advised not to celebrate too hard. If previous years are any guide, the final shape of the next government and its policy plans will not become clear for months. Who knows what will have happened in Ukraine, the Middle East, or in Donald Trump’s trade war with China in that time? “It is essential for European cooperation that a new government is stable and able to make bold decisions, given the current geopolitical challenges that Europe is facing,” the same diplomat said. Even when the new coalition finally begins its work, this election should worry Europe’s liberal centrists almost as much as it delights them. JETTEN INTO EUROPE  Jetten’s Democracy 66 party has never done so well at a Dutch election: Assuming he gets the job he wants, he’ll be the party’s first prime minister. This week he told POLITICO he wanted to move the Netherlands closer to the EU.  Last night, officials in Brussels privately welcomed the prospect of the Dutch and their highly regarded diplomats returning to their historic place at the center of EU affairs, after two years in which they lost some influence. It was always going to be tough for the outgoing PM Dick Schoof, a 68-year-old technocrat, to follow the long-serving Mark Rutte, an EU star who now runs NATO. Domestic divisions made his job even harder.  But pro-European spirits also rose because the disruptive Wilders had wanted to keep the EU at arm’s length. Jetten’s position could hardly be more different. In fact, he sounds like an EU federalist’s dream.  “We want to stop saying ‘no’ by default, and start saying ‘yes’ to doing more together,” Jetten told POLITICO this week. “I cannot stress enough how dire Europe’s situation will be if we do not integrate further.”  STAYING DUTCH In Brussels, officials expect the next Dutch administration to maintain the same broad outlook on core policies: restraint on the EU’s long-term budget; cracking down on migration; boosting trade and competitiveness; and supporting Ukraine, alongside stronger common defense. One area where things could get complicated is climate policy. Jetten is committed to climate action and may end up in a power-sharing deal with GreenLeft-Labor, which was led at this election by former EU Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans.  How any government that Jetten leads balances climate action with improving economic growth will be key to policy discussions in Brussels. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been trimming climate measures amid center-right complaints that they are expensive for consumers and businesses. But she wants to secure backing for new targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.  Elsewhere, housing and migration — two areas often linked by far-right politicians — were central issues in the Dutch campaign. Both will continue to feature on the EU’s agenda, too.  For many watching the results unfold in Brussels, the biggest concerns are practical: Will the next Dutch government be more stable than the last one? And how long will it take to for the coalition to form? Seven months passed between the last election in November 2023 and Schoof taking office as prime minister in July 2024. “This is a historic election result because we’ve shown not only to the Netherlands but also to the world that it’s possible to beat populist and extreme-right movements,” Jetten told his supporters. “I’m very eager to cooperate with other parties to start an ambitious coalition as soon as possible.”  WILDERS Beneath the rare good news of a pro-European triumph and a far-right failure lurk more worrying trends for EU centrists.  First of all, there’s the sheer volatility of the result. Most voters apparently made up their minds at the last moment.  Wilders went from winning the popular vote and taking 37 of the 150 seats in the Dutch lower house in 2023 to a projected 26 seats this time. Jetten’s D66 party, meanwhile, went from just nine seats two years ago to a projected 26, according to a preliminary forecast by the Dutch news agency ANP. The center-right Christian Democratic Appeal took just five seats in 2023 but now stands to win 18, according to the forecast. With swings this wild, anything could happen next time. Most major parties say they won’t work with Wilders in coalition now, making Jetten the more likely new PM if the projections hold. But Wilders says he is a long way from finished. “You won’t be rid of me until I’m 80,” the 62 year-old told supporters. In fact, Wilders might find a period in opposition — free from the constraints and compromises required in government — the perfect place to resume his inflammatory campaigns against Islam, immigration and the EU.  Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage had all been written off before storming back into their respective political front lines. “We had hoped for a different outcome, but we stood our ground,” Wilders wrote on X. “We are more determined than ever.”  TIMM’S UP  The other cloud on the pro-European horizon is the fate of Timmermans.  His center-left ticket was expected to do well and had been polling second behind Wilders’ Freedom Party in the months before the vote. But per the preliminary forecast, GreenLeft-Labor will fall from 25 seats to 20. Timmermans — who also stood in 2023 — resigned as leader.  It wasn’t just a defeat for the party, but also in some ways for Brussels. Timmermans had served as the European Commission’s executive vice president during von der Leyen’s first term, and was seen by some, especially his opponents, as a creation of the EU bubble.  Others point to the fact the center-left is struggling across Europe.  “It’s clear that I, for whatever reason, couldn’t convince people to vote for us,” Timmermans said. “It’s time that I take a step back and transfer the lead of our movement to the next generation.” Jetten’s pro-Europeanism could also come back to haunt him by the time of the next election. If he fails to deliver miracles to back up his optimistic pitch to voters, his Euroskeptic opponents have a ready-made argument for what went wrong. Recent history in the Netherlands, and elsewhere, suggests they won’t be afraid to use it.  Eva Hartog, Hanne Cokelaere, Pieter Haeck and Max Griera contributed reporting.

Frans Timmermans, former European Commission climate chief and leader of the Dutch GreenLeft-Labor ticket, announced he would resign as leader of the alliance after disappointing results in Wednesday’s Dutch election. Exit polls projected the alliance would win 20 seats, five less than in the 2023 election and well short of pre-eclection predictions. “It’s clear that I, for whatever reason, couldn’t convince people to vote for us,” Timmermans said. “It’s time that I take a step back and transfer the lead of our movement to the next generation.” This story is being updated.