'I Had Expected Them to be Evil, Cold-Blooded and Cunning. I Had Not Expected Them to be Such Amateurs'
When far-right politician Geert Wilders won the Dutch national elections, Chris Keulemans was not ready for the sheer lunacy that would soon follow
Not so long ago, on my travels abroad, I was never seriously questioned about the state of politics in my home country. This has changed since the national elections last November, when Geert Wilders and his PVV (Freedom Party) emerged as the winners. For the first time, people abroad treat me with compassion and concern, when they hear where I am from.
In Europe, we are now like the Hungarians, Danes, Italians, Swedes, Slovaks and Thuringians: societies where at least 1 in 4 of the voters support the violent and unpredictable claims that extreme-right politicians are making to pull their country in the direction of an ultra-nationalist, xenophobic, anti-Islam, anti-EU and climate-denying Neverland.
Even after watching the bizarre and vicious pandemonium in UK politics over the past few years, I was not ready for the sheer lunacy that takes over when the demagogues arrive into power. I had expected them to be evil, cold-blooded and cunning. I had not expected them to be such amateurs.
