Geert Wilders relinquishes Dutch prime minister bid due to lack of coalition support

Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch hard-right nationalist Freedom Party (PVV), has announced that he will not be the next prime minister despite winning the largest number of seats in the November 2021 election. He made this statement on X, a day before an anticipated report on coalition talks was to be released. Wilders emphasized his love for his country and voters as being more important than his personal ambition to lead the government. Previously, it was reported that there had been a breakthrough in coalition negotiations among all four parties involved, but Wilders stated that he could only become prime minister if all parties in the coalition supported him, which did not occur.