Provincial election campaign

Forming a stable coalition will be difficult in the Netherlands. Yet the country is still in a better position that its neighbour Belgium, writes the daily De Standaard: "The situation is not easy because the Netherlands is struggling with the fragmentation of its political landscape. But it is a major advantage that the incoming government has a firm goal and that the cards for the coalition negotiations are clearly on the table. The homework has been done. This gives the Netherlands a nice edge over Belgium, where an extended period of formation of government seems likely after the elections [on Sunday]. But in the Netherlands too, which has a long tradition of being open to the world, the discussions were conducted for the main part in a kind of isolation. There wasn't much talk about Europe's future in these times of crisis or about the balance of power shifting to the east. This provincialism, which also marked the Belgian election campaign, is incomprehensible."

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