In elections held on Wednesday, the Party for Freedom (PVV), emerged as the single-biggest party in elections for the Dutch lower house.
The Eurosceptic party, which has in the past said all migration from Muslim countries to the Netherlands should be stopped, won 37 seats of the 150 seats, an increase of 20 seats.
An alliance of the Greens and the Labour party, known by its Dutch abbreviation of GroenLinks-PvdA, was second, with 25 seats.
The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which has governed the country in coalitions since 2010, was third with 24 seats, a loss of ten seats.
The only other party to win more than ten seats was a newcomer, the New Social Contract party, which won 20 seats.
It remains to be seen whether Geert Wilders, the leader of the PVV, will become the next Dutch Prime Minister. A number of parties have vowed not to work with him and his party because of what they consider his unacceptable stances on certain issues. Coalition talks are expected to be protracted.
The win for the PVV is the latest in advances for parties with anti-migration platforms in Europe, with parties explicitly opposed to migration performing well in Scandinavia and Germany in recent times.
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