Millions of Dutch voters are heading to the polls today to vote in the high-stakes general election. Voters will choose between Mark Rutte’s ruling center-left party and the party of Geert Wilders — a fiercely anti-Muslim, far-right candidate with a criminal record for inciting racial hatred.The election is neck and neck.This segment originally aired March 8, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
The vote has been billed as a bellwether for far-right, populist movements in a year of important elections across Europe. But in the Netherlands, the decisive support for Wilders isn’t just coming from right-wingers. It’s from formerly moderate voters who believe Dutch values are under threat.VICE News’ Aris Roussinos traveled to the Netherlands to find out why many voters in the famously liberal Netherlands are embracing Wilders.Read more:Part Trump, part Marine Le Pen: Geert Wilders could disrupt the Dutch electionThe progressive left’s big hope in the Netherlands looks like Trudeau but says he’s more like Bernie