"For the past two decades, the flamboyant right-wing leader has made the fight against immigration —and against Islam, in particular — the centrepiece of his political offer."

"His reward came in the last election in November 2023 when the PVV became the dominant force in a four-party coalition.... Wilders has maintained an unrelenting focus on immigration. One of his most discussed — and complained about — postings on X juxtaposed half the face of a blue-eyed young woman with long blonde hair labelled PVV with half of an older woman in a headscarf marked PvdA, the initials of the rival Labour party. Underneath it read: “The choice is yours on 10/29.”

From "Dutch towns rocked by anti-immigration protests ahead of election/With polls fast approaching, Geert Wilders has seized upon the recent violence to aid his anti-Islamic agenda" (London Times).

Here's that image:

That is much more intense than anti-immigrant material I've seen in the United States. I believe it is too crude to work as propaganda in the U.S.

"[Geert] Wilders’s party — which has advocated banning the Quran, closing Islamic schools and entirely halting the acceptance of asylum seekers..."

"... won the largest number of seats in November 2023 elections, sending shock waves through the Dutch political system. Mr. Wilders was able to form a government with three other right-wing parties... after more than six months of wrangling.... Mr. Wilders had aimed to bring the 'strictest migration policy ever' to the Netherlands, something his governing partners had said they agreed with. In May 2024, the four parties reached a deal that included 'the strictest asylum admission policy and the most comprehensive migration control package ever.' But Mr. Wilders said that implementation was not going quickly enough. Last week he said he wanted to add 10 more proposals... includ[ing] calls for a complete halt to asylum, a temporary stop to family reunions for asylum seekers who had been granted refugee status and the return of all Syrians who had applied for asylum or were in the Netherlands on temporary visas. The leaders of the other coalition parties said that while they did not oppose Mr. Wilders’s plans, they wanted him to propose them in the House of Representatives. That would have taken longer and would not have guaranteed implementation...."

From "Dutch Government Collapses Over Migration Dispute/The populist Geert Wilders withdrew his right-wing party from the ruling coalition, saying partners were stalling plans for the Netherlands’ 'strictest migration policy ever'" (NYT).

About that proposal to ban the Quran — as reported in January 2024, after the election and before the formation of the coalition — "Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders has withdrawn a 2018 proposal to ban mosques and the Quran" (Independent). The proposal denounced Islam as a "violent, totalitarian ideology."

"And so it begins. With the Dutch election on Wednesday, Europe embarks on a yearlong test of how far it’s ready to realign itself..."

"... as an anti-immigrant, pro-Russian continent marked by ascendant nationalism, alt-Right intolerance and the fragmentation of the European Union. The worst could happen. Nobody who has watched the British decision to quit the European Union in a strange little-England huff, or the election of Donald Trump with his 'America First' anti-Muslim jingoism, can think otherwise. The liberal order has lost its center of gravity. People without memory are on the march. They have no time for the free world if the free world means mingling and migration...."

From Roger Cohen (in the NYT).

"He’s the most strategic, smartest politician out there. He’s very skilled. He’s a very good debater. He has media savvy."

"Internationally, he’s compared to Trump. But with [Geert] Wilders every tweet is thought through, calculated. With Trump it’s emotional."

Said a Dutch political scientist quoted in "Geert Wilders, Reclusive Provocateur, Rises Before Dutch Vote" (NYT).

"I am not a racist and my voters are neither. They are people who want their country back and who are sick and tired of not being listened to."

"If you convict me, you will convict half of The Netherlands. Many Dutch will then lose the last bit of trust in the rule of law.... The court is being abused to settle a political score."

Said Geert Wilders, addressing the 3-judge panel who will decide whether to find him guilty of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred. At a political rally, he asked the crowd whether they wanted "fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands." They shouted "Fewer! Fewer!" And Wilders said: "We're going to organize that."

"Dutch populist Geert Wilders acquitted of hate speech."

"The case was seen by some as a test of free speech in a country which has a long tradition of tolerance and blunt talk, but where opposition to immigration, particularly from Muslim or predominantly Muslim countries, is on the rise."