It's 17.32 UK time and The Netherlands still has two hours to vote. Europe has been expecting the results for weeks already, afraid of what many can imagine --, that the far-right parties will win.
Not the only one
The Brexit in Britain and Trump winning the elections in the United States do not seem to be enough. The Netherlands is divided between the tolerance that characterized the country over decades, and islamophobia, one of the reasons why the right and far-right parties are winning followers in the country. However, it does end there. The next country on the list is France and French people are upset, annoyed and irritated with the socialists that have been governing the country since 2013.
National identity
National identity is one of the key points in the argument between the second party in the polls, the PVV, whose candidate is Mr. Geert Wilders and the liberals, who said in the national debate that The Netherlands belongs to everyone who works in the country.
In opposition, Mr. Wilders aims to take his country out of the EU's influence, to gain sovereignty, and to ban Islam in The Netherlands, including closing all the mosques.
Turkey - The Netherlands
Mr. Rutte, the current Prime Minister, is not that radical, yet he was called a "Nazi remnant" by the Turkish Prime Minister, President Erdogan, after two Turkish ministers were banned from taking part in a rally organized in Rotterdam.
This dispute stated when, last Saturday, the Dutch authorities banned the Minister of International Affairs, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, and ended up expelling the Minister of Family and Social Affairs. The Rally in which Mr. Çavusoglu was expected to take part is an electoral rally that is part of the Turkish community residing in The Netherlands (395,302 according to the statistics in 2013), was organized by Ankara, but Mr.
Rutte considered that it was 'too risky' for the public order.
As a result, Erdogan closed the embassy from The Netherlands in Ankara, banning the ambassador from going back to work after his holiday.
Predictions for the elections
12.9 million voters; 28 parties and it is expected that none of them will get more of the 30% of the votes.
So far, it is likely that the elections will be won by the VVD (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, or People's Party For Freedom and Democracy) presided by Mr. Rutte, with 17% of votes, and the PVV (Partij voor de Vrijheid, Party for Freedom, in English), presided by Mr. Wilders, with the 14% of votes, according to the last surveys.
