The EU could be facing another departure from the bloc, as the new President of the Netherlands is eyeing plans to leave the bloc.
Far-right Geert Wilders, who won a shock election victory this week, put a so-called ‘Nexit’ at the heart of his successful election campaign.
However, there are hopes that Wilders will be tempered by his lack of an outright majority.
While he is the leader of the largest party, he does not have enough seats to form a government alone, so will need to form a coalition in order to govern.
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The European Commission claimed it was not worried about Wilders’ election.
It said it was “counting” on the Netherlands, which is a founding member of hte bloc, to continue to “strongly participate” in the EU.
Wilders has campaigned to “give the Netherlands back to the Dutch”.
He also hit out at what he described as a “migration tsunami”.
There has been increasing support for far-right parties across the bloc in recent months, with Alternative for Germany (AfD) seing a surge in Germany.
The party made gains in two state elections in October, coming second in Hesse and third in Bavaria.
The results both represent historic gains for the party.
Meanwhile, the three parties that make up Olaf Scholz’ federal coalition government were hit with significant losses.
The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) all saw their support fall.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Von der Leyen as Hungary, with far-right politician Viktor Orban at the helm, is hoping to form a right-wing majority in the European parliament.
Speaking to Politico, Orban’s Political Director, Balázs Orban said: “We were very supportive of her. But now she’s pushing her own political agenda without consulting member states, on geopolitics, relationship with the U.S. and China, on war issues, sanctions.”
He accused Von der Leyen of being at the helm of a “divisive” routine, saying that “the way the Commission is operating is not good for unity”.
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Pressure is mounting on Von der Leyen as Hungary, with far-right politician Viktor Orban at the helm, is hoping to form a right-wing majority in the European parliament
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He added: “They come up with a proposal and then put pressure on member states to say yes.”
Speaking about the possibility of a right-wing majority, Orban said: “I think we have a chance, I think it will be very close.”
