The undecided Dutch

Jürg Dedial gives his interpretation of the election results in the Netherlands. "Strangely enough, the issues of immigration and integration that were the main themes less than a year ago appear to have played only a minor role. Although the PVV led by right-wing extremist Geert Wilders did well in the elections, it exploited the scepticism of many Dutch voters regarding the EU rather than their xenophobia. And he's still far from achieving the popularity Pim Fortuyn enjoyed four years ago when his party triggered a storm by breaking the taboos preventing open discussion of the immigration problem. It's as if the Dutch had accepted this problem and the necessity for confronting it openly to such an extent that it no longer has the power to mobilise the masses. It's no coincidence that Fortuyn's party barely featured in these last elections."

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