Europe’s MAGA Takeover Gets a Dutch Reality Check
If populism is an overused term, so is the idea that it can be defeated. The victory of mainstream parties in Wednesday’s Dutch election is no more fatal for the far right which lost seats and was tied in first place with the centrist Democrats 66 than Emmanuel Macron’s re-election in France in 2022 or Friedrich Merz’s win last year in Germany. Throw in the UK, where Nigel Farage is tipped to be the next prime minister, and there’s still a risk that Europe’s biggest economies will be piloted.