THE HAGUE: In a dramatic about-turn, Dutch anti-EU populist MP Geert Wilders said yesterday he wants also to sit in the European parliament, despite dual mandates being illegal.
“I want both at the same time,” Wilders, whose anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV) won four MEP seats in last week’s European parliamentary elections, one less than in 2009, told state broadcaster NOS.
Wilders said in April that there was “no way” he would sit in the European parliament, despite his vow to “destroy the monster of Brussels” from within.
He is seeking legal advice on how to resolve his predicament, NOS said, as holding a dual mandate in a national and the European parliament was banned following a European Union decision in 2002.
“Why isn’t it allowed?” Wilders said. “Can you just make something illegal like that?”
Wilders’ PVV is part of a far-right alliance that hopes to form an official grouping in the European parliament, including with France’s National Front led by Marine Le Pen.
Belgium’s far-right Vlaams Belang (VB), the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) and Italy’s Lega Nord are also in the alliance, which hopes to benefit from extra Brussels cash by forming a bloc.
AFP
