As Dutch centrist leader Rob Jetten celebrated his party's election surge, declaring that voters had "turned the page" on Geert Wilders, an anti-immigration, anti-Islam campaigner and a leading figure of European right-wing populism, a closer look at the results suggests the story may not be so simple.
Although Wilders' far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) is set to lose seats and return to opposition, it is still set to tie Jetten's D66 as the biggest faction in the Dutch parliament.
Gains by other far-right candidates also show how parties based on anti-immigration platforms remain an enduring, and sizeable, part of the European political landscape.
"You won't be rid of me until I'm 80," the 62-year-old Wilders said after polls closed, vowing to fight D66 from the opposition benches.
His first order of business may be to call for a recount. That would be a symbolic gesture echoing the tactics of U.S. President Donald Trump in 2020, whom Wilders has long admired.
