Dutch anti-Islam populist leader Geert Wilders has abandoned his bid to become prime minister, despite his party's dramatic victory in the 2023 elections. "I can only become prime minister if all parties in the coalition support it. That was not the case," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. His Freedom Party (PVV) won the most votes last year but needed the support of other parties to form a coalition. Talks with three other parties over the shape of a new government are ongoing. The negotiator leading the latest round of talks, which concluded on Tuesday, is due to share his report with parliament on Thursday. "I would like a right-wing cabinet. Less asylum and immigration. Dutch on 1. The love for my country and voter is great and more important than my own position," Wilders wrote in his post on Wednesday evening. Mr Wilders, 60, has spent months in talks with the center-right VVD, New Social Contract (NSC) and BBB farmers' parties to try and form a coalition government. The leaders of those three insisted this week that the only way they would be willing to move forward was if all four party leaders agreed not to take a role in the government, according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS. It was not immediately clear if a compromise figure for the prime minister's post had emerged. A parliamentary debate on the issue is also expected on Thursday. The PVV's victory last year not only shook Dutch politics but had repercussions across Europe as the Netherlands is one of the founding members of what is now the European Union. — BBC
