DUTCH POPULIST SURGE STUNS PM RUTTE
Dutch anti-immigration populists stunned Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become the joint biggest party in the senate yesterday following elections that took place just days after a suspected terror attack. Thierry Baudet's Forum for Democracy party, which also backs a "Nexit" from the European Union, came from nowhere to win most votes in the provincial elections, with 93 percent of ballots counted, the NOS broadcaster said. The result will ring alarm bells across Europe where populists are expected to make big gains in European Parliament elections in May. FDP, which only launched two years ago, will now be the largest in the upper house of parliament along with Rutte's with 12 seats each, the Dutch news agency ANP said.
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