Europe can finally smile: the nightmare of populism hasn't brought Holland to its knees. Dutch voters, who flocked to the polls (82%), rejected Geert Wilders' xenophobic and anti-European populism and restored victory to the Liberal Party of outgoing premier Mark Rutte, which lost votes but stood at 21%.
The very tough attitude he held on the eve of the vote against Erdogan's Turkey was decisive for Rutte's success. “Holland has said no to populism: it's an important evening” commented Rutte immediately.
Disappointed instead Wilders, who the polls gave as a possible winner and who instead stops at 15% with only 19 seats, even if growing. Nineteen seats also for the Christian Democrats. On the other hand, Labor collapses (from 38 to 9 seats) while the Greens of thirty-year-old leader Jesse Klaver, already renamed after the Dutch Trudeau, soar.
