XENOPHOBIA and militarism will be the defining themes of the incoming Netherlands coalition government, with a four-party agreement struck today.
The far-right Party of Freedom headed by Islamophobic rabble-rouser Geert Wilders will be the biggest party in the new government, though it is not yet clear who will be prime minister, a post Mr Wilders has agreed not to seek.
But the “Hope, Courage and Pride” agreement sets out policies the next administration — formed with the conservative VVD of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the traditionalist New Social Contract and the agrarian-nationalist Farmer-Citizen Movement — will pursue.
From Reform UK to Trump, Orban and beyond, the far right is organised across borders and growing. Waiting for it to collapse is a fatal error – building an international, locally rooted left alternative is now an urgent necessity., argues ROGER McKENZIE



