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En Français, Please

En Français, Please
Bertrand Hauger

The language situation in Canada"s predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec can lead to baffling bilingual signs like this one at the Montreal airport.

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Geopolitics

The Geert Wilders Victory May Be The Darkest Sign For Europe Since Brexit

The victory of Geert Wilders' far-right party in this week's elections in the Netherlands shows that politics in Europe, at both the national and European Union level, has fundamentally failed to overcome its contradictions.

Photo of a campaign poster of Geert Wilders in the Hague, Netherlands

A campaign poster of Geert Wilders, who leads the Party for Freedom (PVV) taken in the Hague, Netherlands

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — For a long time, Geert Wilders, recognizable by his peroxide hair, was an eccentric, disconcerting and yet mostly marginal figure in Dutch politics. He was known for his public outbursts against Muslims, particularly Moroccans who are prevalent in the Netherlands, which once led to a court convicting him for the collective insulting of a nationality.

Consistently ranking third or fourth in poll results, this time he emerged as the leader in Wednesday's national elections. The shock is commensurate with his success: 37 seats out of 150, twice as many as in the previous legislature.

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The recipe is the same everywhere: a robustly anti-immigration agenda that capitalizes on fears. Wilders' victory in the Netherlands reflects a prevailing trend across the continent, from Sweden to Portugal, Italy and France.

While waiting to see if Wilders will have the means to govern, as he will need allies to form a coalition, at least three lessons can be drawn from this breakthrough of the far-right in one of the founding countries of the European Union.

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