The party's origins trace back to Geert Wilders' departure from the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) in September 2004. The immediate cause was Wilders' opposition to the potential accession of Turkey to the European Union, though more broadly, he had become increasingly radicalized. Following his departure, he continued in parliament as a one-man faction, Groep Wilders (Group Wilders).[11]
Wilders was joined by Bart Jan Spruyt of the Edmund Burke Foundation, with both aiming to establish a conservative party.[12] Wilders published a manifesto titled Independence Declaration (Dutch: Onafhankelijkheidsverklaring), primarily authored by Spruyt. Initially, they had planned to release it jointly with Pim Fortuyn List politicians Joost Eerdmans and Marco Pastors, but Wilders ultimately withdrew from the collaboration.[13] Spruyt left the party in August 2006, after determining that Wilders was less focused on forming a conservative party and more concentrated on issues related to Islam and immigration.[14]
On 28 November 2007, Wilders announced his film, Fitna, suggesting it would include scenes of burning the Quran.[18] The Dutch government, the European Union, and other international organizations feared a repeat of the 2005 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, which led to a media hype.[19] Government officials and politicians attempted to dissuade Wilders from releasing the film. Following multiple delays, Fitna was released in March 2008. Although the Dutch government distanced itself from the film and it received international reactions, it offered little new, and the anticipated escalation did not materialize.[20]Fitna later became part of a hate speech trial against Geert Wilders, in which he was ultimately acquitted.
2010 Municipal elections
The PVV participated in the March 2010 municipal elections only in The Hague and Almere due to a shortage of suitable candidates. MPs Sietse Fritsma and Raymond de Roon headed the candidate lists. The PVV emerged as the largest party in Almere, winning 22% of the votes, and the second largest in The Hague with 17%. Wilders was lijstduwer in The Hague and was elected through preference votes, subsequently joining the council. However, negotiations to join the municipal executive failed in both cities, partly due to the PVV's demand to ban headscarves for civil servants.[16]
In the 9 June 2010 general election, the PVV went from nine to 24 seats. During the subsequent cabinet formation, the PVV agreed to provide confidence and supply to a right-wing minority coalition of People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and Christian Democratic Appeal, despite opposition in the latter party. Providing only confidence and supply, it had no representation within the cabinet. The PVV did not have to support everything in the coalition agreement of CDA and VVD, but only which was agreed upon in a separate gedoogakkoord, which included immigration policy, security, healthcare and financial policy.[16]
In 2012, the PVV party launched a website named Reporting Centre on Central and East Europeans to receive complaints about Central and East European immigrants in the Netherlands. 'Do you have problems with people from Central and Eastern Europe? Have you lost your job to a Pole, a Bulgarian, a Romanian or another East European? We want to know,' the website states. It displays newspaper headlines such as 'Wouldn't it be better if you went back home?' and 'East Europeans, increasingly criminal'. The European Commission has condemned the website, and EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding declared, "We call on all citizens of the Netherlands not to join in this intolerance. Citizens should instead clearly state on the PVV's website that Europe is a place of freedom."[21][22] The website caused a lot of controversy within the European Union.[23]
On 20 March 2012, Hero Brinkman quit the party, citing a lack of democratic structure within the PVV among other things; qualifying this with a statement of continued support for the minority Rutte cabinet.[24] Two days later, three members of the States of North Holland representing the PVV followed him.[25] In July 2012, Marcial Hernandez and Wim Kortenoeven quit the PVV, both citing what they considered to be Wilders' autocratic leadership of the party.[26]
During election night of the 2014 municipal elections, Wilders asked a crowd of his followers whether they wanted more or less Morrocans, to which the crowd replied with "Less, less, less". This led to commotion, including within the party. Some municipal and provincial councilors left the party, as well as MPs Roland van Vliet and Joram van Klaveren.[16] Wilders was later found guilty of group insult [nl] in a second trial against him [nl], but received no sentence.
The Party for Freedom rose in polls during the 2015 European migrant crisis, with the party topping polls from September 2015 through to late February 2017. However, in the relative absence of Geert Wilders during the campaign – notably refusing to participate in both RTL debates – support for the PVV collapsed, and the VVD secured a narrow lead in the final weeks before the election. The 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident happened less than a week before the election; it was speculated that this benefited the Prime Minister's party (VVD), as Rutte's response to the incident was well received.[33]
For the 2017 general election, the PVV had an election platform of a single page.[34] The party won 20 seats, which was five seats more than the previous election.[35] Despite ending second, the PVV played no role in the 2017 cabinet formation because all major parties said they would not form a government coalition with the PVV.[36]
The fourth Rutte cabinet fell in July 2023, after the parties failed to agree on measures to restrict migration. The party saw a massive resurgence in support and its best result to date during the November 2023 general election in which it finished in first place.[39] It was also noted Wilders had softened some of his statements and moderated some of the PVV's positions, and that immigration was one of the most important issues of the election which helped to boost his appeal.[40] After the election, PVV parliamentarian Martin Bosma was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives making it the first time a member of the PVV has held the position.[41]
In May 2024, after six months of negotiations, a coalition deal was struck between the PVV, NSC, BBB, and VVD. During the talks, all parties agreed that none of their leaders would serve as Prime Minister, opting instead for an independent politician. The PVV initially nominated Ronald Plasterk for the role, but his candidacy was withdrawn following accusations of fraud. The PVV then proposed Dick Schoof, a civil servant, as Prime Minister. The Schoof cabinet was sworn in on 2 July 2024, with PVV politician Fleur Agema appointed as Deputy Prime Minister.
Ideology
On André Krouwel's map of the Dutch political spectrum in 2012, the Party for Freedom is conservative on the socio-cultural axis, and centrist on the socio-economic axis.
The PVV is generally considered right-wing[42][43] to far-right,[44][45] More specifically, the party is considered radical right and right-wing populist.[45] Dutch media and academics generally avoid the term "extreme right" (Dutch: extreemrechts), in particular because the party does not want to abolish democracy and does not advocate violence.[45][46]
The PVV combines its right-wing politics with leftist social positions,[1] which makes it harder to position the party on the left-right scale.[47] On certain themes such as healthcare, social services, LGBT rights and elderly care the PVV can be seen as left-leaning and social democratic, albeit selectively.[48]
Observers have also noted that Wilders avoids positioning the party within the traditional political spectrum, but have variously described the PVV's ideology as encompassing elements of liberalism, national liberalism, conservative liberalism, Dutch nationalism and national populism.[49][50][51] Wilders has identified himself as a right-wing liberal and was initially reluctant to collaborate with far-right parties in Europe. Others have claimed that the PVV overlaps in some areas with the former Pim Fortuyn List party which combined nationalism and liberal principles.[52][53][54]
The party campaigns on a strong counter-jihad agenda.[57] The PVV's view of Islam is amongst others inspired by Oriana Fallaci's The Force of Reason, Bat Ye'or's Eurabia and the works of Hans Jansen.[58] Specific proposals the PVV have made regarding Islam include banning the Quran, closing Islamic schools, shutting down all mosques in the Netherlands, banning migration from Islamic countries, stopping subsidies for Islamic media and organisations, banning headscarves in public buildings, banning Quran lessons in school and introducing a head rag tax.[7]
Dual citizenship
The PVV seeks to exclude Dutch citizens with dual citizenship from voting, serving in the military,[59] and holding political office.[60] The PVV argues that dual citizens may have conflicting loyalties. While in opposition, the party filed motions of no confidence against cabinet members with dual citizenship, such as Ahmed Aboutaleb and Nebahat Albayrak (both in 2007). However, while in coalition, the party refrained from filing such motions, as seen with Marlies Veldhuijzen van Zanten in 2010.[61]
Abortion and gay rights
The party utilizes its liberal stances on issues such as abortion and gay rights to present itself as a "a defender of women and gay people in the face of the advance of an ‘intolerant and backward Islam".[62] The PVV has generally taken a more moderate and socially liberal attitude on LGBT rights and same-sex marriage in contrast to other European populist parties.[63] The party is critical of LGBT education in schools.[64]
Foreign policy
The PVV's foreign policy is based on its dislike of Islam and opposition to European integration.[65] The party was supportive of the War on terror in the beginning, but changed its position around 2016 to non-interventionism, arguing the Netherlands is not responsible for the "rubble of the Islamic world".[66] According to the PVV, the Netherlands Armed Forces should be focused on safety within the border.[67] The PVV opposes development aid, arguing that is not effective.[68]
European Union
It has generally taken a position of hard Euroscepticism and argues for Dutch withdrawal from the European Union (Nexit). The party states that the EU does not financially benefit the Dutch tax payer, has eroded too much domestic decision making and democracy of its member states and leaves the Netherlands unable to control its borders.[69] The party has also advocated for withdrawal from the eurozone and the reintroduction of the Dutch guilder and has also proposed an alternative currency it calls the neuro which would be created as a parallel trading currency with Northern European states.[70] The PVV also wants a similar opt-out agreement from the EU common asylum policy as Denmark.[71]
Following the 2024 European Parliament election, the PVV said it would pause its support for Nexit and made this decision to accommodate its negotiation partners during the ongoing 2023-2024 cabinet formation. Wilders instead stated he would use his position in government to focus on eroding the EU's power from within.[72]
Russia
A research paper by the European Center for Populism Studies described the PVV's prior attitude towards Putin and Russia as mixed and more complex compared to other national-populist movements, with Wilders making somewhat supportive statements of Putin in the context of portraying him as an ally against Islamic terrorism and immigration, the PVV advocating a neutral policy on the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014 and opposing Ukrainian membership of the EU. However, the paper notes Wilders and the PVV hardened their attitude towards Russia after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 with the PVV manifesto calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.[73] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the PVV voted in parliament to condemn the invasion and called for an end to Russian aggression. Despite its otherwise strict stance on immigration, the PVV said the Netherlands should temporarily accommodate Ukrainian refugees whom the party regards as legitimate refugees fleeing war.[73] The party has since expressed some criticism of the extent of Dutch military support for Ukraine[74][75] and has advocated for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.[76]
Israeli-Arab conflict
The PVV supports the one-state solution and considers Jordan to be 'the only Palestinian state that will ever exist'.[77] In 2010, Wilders voiced his support for Yisrael Beiteinu and held talks with its leader Avigdor Lieberman.[78] Wilders is a frequent visitor to Israel and spent six months on a moshav in the West Bank at the age of 17.[79] The party supports recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and proposed moving the Dutch embassy there.[80] Following the Israel–Hamas war, Wilders drew condemnation from Arab states for advocating for the relocation of Palestinians to Jordan.[81]
The name 'Party for Freedom' (Dutch: Partij voor de Vrijheid) is a reference to the Freedom Party (Dutch: Partij van de Vrijheid), a Dutch political party founded in 1946, shortly after World War II. In 1948, the Freedom Party went on as the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Dutch: Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie), which is the party Wilders split from.[84]
The party logo consists of the party name and a gull in red, white, and blue, which are the colors of the Dutch flag.[1][85] The gull symbolises freedom or liberty.[85][86] The gull had also been used as a symbol by the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands on propaganda posters and for their youth wing,[86] but Wilders claimed it was not inspired by Nazi usage.[87]
Structure
In order to register for elections in the Netherlands, a political party needs to be an association, which can be founded by two or more members.[88] The Association Group Wilders (Dutch: The Vereniging Groep Wilders) was founded by Geert Wilders and Foundation Group Wilders (Dutch: Stichting Groep Wilders), of which Wilders is the only board member.[89][16] The association was later renamed to Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom).[1] After the creation of the association, Wilders disabled new member registration, resulting in him remaining the sole member of the party.[1][89] The party is considered unique in Dutch politics in that it does not organise public party conferences and does not have local departments, a youth wing, or a research institute.[1][89]
The most important reason for refusing members was to prevent a repeat of the right-wing populist Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), which succumbed to factional infighting after the murder of its founder. The LPF also attracted troublemakers as well as people from the extreme right.[90] Another reason was that Wilders' strict protection made it hard to organise membership meetings.[90] Later, Wilders and Bosma would introduced more principled reasons, arguing that membership parties were old-fashioned and had lost their contact with society.[90] Politicians within the party have advocated for democratisation of the party, most notably Hero Brinkman, but they received little support and their efforts failed.[91]
Commentators have also cited Wilders as one of the first party leaders to use web and social media messages to reach voters instead of traditional public campaigning such as public rallies or meet and greets.[92]
Support
Due to the PVV's structure, foreign political journalists have noted that members of the public do not often out themselves as PVV supporters and that it is sometimes difficult to determine who votes for the party despite its generally substantial results in elections. Some media outlets have noted that in line with other European populist parties, its voters tend to either be on the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum or those concerned about immigration and crime.[93] A 2017 study by Dutch polling company Etnobarometer found that the PVV also receives support from some ethnic minority communities and that it was the second most voted for party among Surinamese-Dutch voters after the Labour Party, with the PVV doing particularly well among voters of Indo-Surinamese and Indian heritage.[94]
Financing
In the Netherlands, a political party needs to have at least 1,000 members to be eligible for government funding, a requirement which the PVV does not meet with Wilders being the only member.[1] The party thus relies on donations, which are received by the Stichting Vrienden van de PVV.[95]
The party has not disclosed any of its finances until 2013, so little is known for certain. There are rumours that money was donated from the United States and Israel. For example, Hero Brinkman claimed in 2012 after he had left the party that the PVV received most of its finances from foreign (American) lobby groups.[96] According to Reuters, Daniel Pipes'Middle East Forum paid for the trials and security of Geert Wilders and David Horowitz paid Wilders "a good fee" for two speeches given in the US.[97][98]
Since 2013, Dutch political parties are required by law to disclose all donations of 4,500 euro or more.[95] The PVV reported no donations for 2013.[99] Between 2014 and 2017, the party disclosed more than 130,000 euro in donations from the California-based David Horowitz Freedom Center, more than 18,000 euro from a private donor in the Netherlands who according to the Anti-fascist research group Kafka donated to the Centre Democrats in the past, and a donation of 6,853 euro from the New York-based company FOL Inc.[95]
^Oudenampsen, Merijn (2013). "Explaining the Swing to the Right: The Dutch Debate on the Rise of Right-Wing Populism". In Wodak, Ruth; KhosraviNik, Majid; Mral, Brigitte (eds.). Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse. A&C Black. p. 191.
^Nordsieck, Wolfram (2021). "Netherlands". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
^From Pariah to Power: The Government Participation of Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties in West European Democracies, Sarah L. de Lange, University Antwerp, 2008
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