(AFP) Dutch anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders has said he has no regrets and is ready to “step up” his campaigning against immigration, despite the coronavirus set to dominate next week’s general election.
Once dubbed the “Dutch Trump” for his bleached-blonde hair and incendiary rhetoric, Wilders has focused more during the election campaign on healthcare and opposing lockdown restrictions.
But while he hopes to improve on the 2017 showing that made his Freedom Party (PVV) the second largest in parliament, the 57-year-old admits that Prime Minister Rutte is on course to win.
“The current government is rather popular now — at least, the prime minister is — but then again, in time of crisis people tend to rally around the flag,” Wilders told AFP in an interview at the Dutch parliament.
