Netherlands to hold general election

The Netherlands will elect a replacement for Mark Rutte in its parliamentary elections today.

Rutte is the longest-ever serving Dutch Prime Minister being in the position since late 2010 and as the leader of the center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. Rutte’s departure thus marks the end of an era for Dutch politics. Current opinion polls have four parties; the VVD, the centrist New Social Contract (NSC), and the Labour/Green-Left alliance (PVDA & GL) as well as the far right PVV (Party for Freedom) polling roughly even with between 15% and 18%. As such, no party is expected to form a majority government likely leading to lengthy coalition negotiations.

From a foreign policy perspective, the Netherlands is unlikely to experience a significant shift in its stances on the Russia-Ukraine war or the Israel-Palestine conflict. Three of the four leading parties present largely consistent pro-Ukrainian stances while the pro-Russian far-right PVV is unlikely to obtain the support for a coalition government. Nevertheless, lengthy coalition negotiations could force the Netherlands to focus on internal matters and temporarily reduce its focus on Ukraine. The Netherlands is the seventh largest donor to Ukraine in terms of the value of its support.