THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Work to build a new ruling Dutch coalition started Thursday, after conservative leader Mark Rutte bucked a European trend by winning an election despite pushing through tough austerity measures to counter the continent's devastating debt crisis. “Now we have to focus on forming, as soon as possible, a stable government,” Rutte said as lawmakers from his free-market VVD party cheered. Rutte later said he would not discuss coalition negotiations, to avoid jeopardizing the sensitive talks. Rutte's party won 10 extra seats to give it 41 overall in the 150-seat House of Representatives. His closest rival — and now most likely coalition partner — Diederik Samsom of Labor saw his party grow by nine seats to 39. It remains unclear when the two will meet to discuss joining forces, but it appeared they were in no hurry. Former Social Affairs Minister Henk Kamp, a senior member of the VVD party, was appointed to investigate the possible coalitions and will report back to lawmakers when they meet for the first time since the election on Sept. 20. The major gains for two of this nation's strongest supporters of the European Union were a significant boost for EU unity and a heavy defeat for euroskeptics. Firebrand populist Geert Wilders was hammered at the polls, losing nine of his Freedom Party's 24 seats after campaigning to pull the Netherlands out of the 27-nation European Union and dump its shared currency, the euro. The far-left Socialist Party was unchanged at 15 seats. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the election outcome “strengthens Europe and weakens populists and ‘re-nationalists.'” “After the important decisions of the last few days, we must now use the momentum to develop Europe further and make it fit for the future in times of globalization,” he added. Guy Verhofstadt, who leads the conservative Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament, said the results would resonate well beyond Dutch borders. “They are a slap in the face of anti-European extremism and populism,” he said Thursday. “Dutch voters clearly chose to reinforce pro-European measures.” Since Europe's debt crisis erupted in 2009 and plunged the continent into the economic doldrums, longtime Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi quit, Greece's government fell and French President Nicolas Sarkozy — a conservative like Rutte — was voted out of office. Governments also fell in the debt-strapped countries of Spain and Ireland. Rutte, a 45-year-old piano-playing bachelor known for his boundless optimism, somehow reversed the tide. “It is a very strong message from the Dutch public that they are not punishing parties that want to be credible with their solutions,” said Piotr Kaczynski of the Center for European Policy Studies. Rutte and Samsom will now have to see if they can build a coalition. That may not be easy. Rutte called Labor's policies “dangerous for the Netherlands” during the campaign, while Samsom says he wants to see a more social platform from the next government. “The direction can and must change,” Samsom told supporters in Amsterdam. “Because the right-wing policies of the last two years cannot continue.” — AP
