Geert Wilders' PVV expected to finish as second largest party in the Netherland in yesterday's elections

Geert Wilders' PVV has come second in the Dutch general election held yesterday, leaving the incumbent VVD the largest party albeit with a big slump in the number of seats.

It will take time to finish counts and calculate seats won under proportional representation but it would appear that the VVD will come out with 31-33 seats (down from 41) whilst PVV will increase their 8 seats to 20. The PvdA (Labour) are expected to drop from 38 seats to 9.

There was much speculation prior to the election that the PVV could win the election as resentment toward uncontrolled immigration and the cost of propping up the EU and €uro have increase. And Wilders was expected to benefit from Rutte's government ignored last year's referendum result on Turkish visa free travel a couple of weeks ago and the Turkish government denounced the Netherlands and Dutch people over the last week or so.

But the Dutch are a funny lot. They are fantastic people but they are liberal to the point of destruction. Another Rutte government is a disaster for the Netherlands but that's democracy for you.

Rutte described the PVV as "the wrong type of populism". In the EU, populism has become a dirty word but it would be interesting to know how you can have the wrong type of doing what ordinary voters want which is what populism means.

Dutch reject EU-Ukraine treaty in referendum

The Dutch have voted overwhelmingly to reject an EU deal with Ukraine that would give the country visa free travel with the EU.

The rejected treaty was designed to reinforce the EU's claim to Ukraine and wind up Russia. The referendum was seen as an opportunity to give the EU a kicking and the Dutch didn't disappoint.

Around 68% of those who voted in the advisory referendum voted against the treaty with turnout provisionally put at about 32%. A minimum turnout of 30% is required for the referendum result to be valid but the result is only advisory in any case.

EU facing hostile voters in three referenda in three months

The EU is facing a democratic crisis with both Hungary and the Netherlands holding referenda on key decisions before the EU referendum in the UK.

The Netherlands is holding a referendum in April on the EU's treaty of association with Ukraine. The referendum on this treaty is being treated as a proxy vote on the Netherlands' relationship with the EU as a whole and opinion is as divided in the Netherlands as it is here.

Hungary, meanwhile, is holding a referendum on the EU's imposition of quotas for illegal immigrants which requires Hungary - along with other member states - to take a quota of illegal immigrants from other EU countries that are bearing the brunt of the EU's disastrous open door immigration policy.

While the Dutch (being "good Europeans" and one of the handful of net contributors to the EU budget) have been left to get on with their referendum, the Hungarians have been told that a referendum doesn't "fit into the decisions making process" by the EU Commission.

A survey by a leading Dutch pollster has found that a majority of Dutch people want a referendum on membership of the EU with a very small majority wanting out. The poll also finds that Geert Wilders' anti-immigration, anti-EU PVV is the most popular party in the Netherlands, enjoying almost double the support of the ruling VVD.

Geert Wilders brings down Dutch government

The Dutch Prime Minister has resigned, triggering an election after Geert Wilders withdrew support for a €16bn EU-imposed austerity programme.

Wilders' Freedom Party isn't part of the ruling coalition but Mark Rutte's minority government relied on their support to govern.

The Dutch economy is one of the strongest in Europe and their national debt is only 65% of GDP which is about 7 and a half times smaller than the UK but their budget deficit is expected to top 4.7% which is way above the EU's one size fits all target of 3%.

It will be a few weeks to organise an election, during which time a caretaker government can inflict some EU-mandated damage as their neighbours in Belgium found out.

Poles complain about "discriminatory" Dutch immigration plans

The EU's flagship open borders policy is under threat from the Dutch, of all people.

Faced with an unsustainable burden on their welfare system from EU immigrants looking to take advantage of the high standard of living the Dutch enjoy, the Dutch government have produced a policy paper outlining plans to curtail immigration from EU member states and to deport those that make disproportionate welfare claims or commit serious or repeated crimes.

Poland has complained to the EU Commission, calling the Dutch proposals "discriminatory".  There are 150k Poles in the Netherlands.

EU puts Dutch government in its place

Hat-tip to Tony Sharp and EU Referendum for pointing out that the European Empire has slapped down the Dutch government for releasing exit poll and partial count information on the imperial elections ahead of Sunday's official announcement in accordance with Dutch law.

Spokesman for the imperial commission, Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, reminded the Dutch government who makes the rules:

The events that took place in the Netherlands yesterday seem not to comply with the spirit of the European elections. They're supposed to go beyond the purely national aspects. If we want citizens to understand the European nature of these elections, we think it's absolutely essential that we release the results in all countries at the same time, also in order not to influence the vote in the countries which have not voted yet – and that at the moment is 25 out of the 27 member states.

Amadeu Altafaj is absolutely right, of course, the decision by the Dutch government to comply with Dutch law and publish details of the elections doesn't comply with the spirit of the European elections, the objective of which is to undermine national identity and sovereignty. If the Dutch government had any balls they'd tell this unelected Belgian civil servant that the Dutch government makes the rules in the Netherlands but of course that isn't the case any more, the Dutch government have accepted the primacy of European law over domestic law the same as the British government have.

EU protest voting spreads to Netherlands

The exit polls indicate that yesterday was a good day for UKIP with an average or better than average turnout and a lot of people voting the only sensible way they could - for UKIP.

The Dutch also went to the polls yesterday and their exit polls are showing a surprisingly strong showing for Geert Wilders' Freedom Party which stood in the EU elections for the first time yesterday. The anti-Islam, anti-immigration, marginally eurosceptic (roughly akin to the vague euroscepticism of the Tories) Freedom Party looks to have come second on the Dutch EU election, not far behind the incumbent Christian Democrats headed up by Dutch PM, Jan Peter Balkenende (or Harry Potter as he is affectionately known).

It looks like the eurosceptic protest vote (yes, there are eurosceptics in the Netherlands, they're just very quiet) all across the European Empire will be a strong one.