Freedom Party (PVV)

The possibility of sending asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected to Uganda has been discussed by a Dutch minister, as the government pushes ahead with measures to curb illegal immigration.

Voters in Ireland and the Czech Republic go to the polls Friday on the second day of marathon EU elections, after the Netherlands kicked off the ballot with a strong showing by the far right.

Dutch voters on Thursday kicked off a four-day election marathon across the 27 nations of the European Union — providing an early litmus test of how far right the next EU parliament might shift.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte easily defeated a strong challenge by far-right rival Geert Wilders in key elections seen as a bellwether of populist support in Europe, partial vote counts said on March 15.

The Dutch political system may not have been deliberately designed to produce middle-of-the-road outcomes, but it certainly works that way in practice: many small parties, multi-party coalitions to create a majority government, perpetual compromise. It is almost impossible to radicalize a system like this, but Geert Wilders is going to try.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke on the phone to his Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders on March 8 ahead of his planned visit to the Netherlands in a bid to address Turks living there on constitutional change referendum campaigns in Turkey. 

According to a Dutch Minister, authorities will count by hand all the votes cast in next month’s general elections, in order to avoid the possibility of a cyber attack.

Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk said in a letter to parliament on Wednesday that he can not rule out that state actors may try to benefit from influencing political decisions and public opinion in the Netherlands.