Geert Wilders, an anti-Islam firebrand and the leader of the Dutch People’s Party for Freedom (PVV) came first in last November’s parliamentary elections with 23 per cent of the votes. The champion of national preference gained unprecedented support in a climate of deep economic and social crisis, which many blame on the outgoing Rutte-led government.

This episode of Witness takes us to the economic hub of Rotterdam, the second-biggest city in the Netherlands, and one of the places where the populist leader scored the highest. Voters across the Netherlands have veered far to the right politically. The shift has been triggered by economic and cultural anxieties that have whipped up fears about immigrants. It’s an extreme example of a trend being felt across the continent that could tilt the outcome of this year’s European Union parliamentary election.

Euronews International Correspondent Valérie Gauriat speaks with voters in the Netherlands to understand how the far-right PVV party secured a victory in the 2023 parliamentary elections. She portrays and interviews entrepreneurs in the Hague that are confronted with a new asylum seekers centre, imam Azzedine Karrat from the Rotterdam Essalam mosque, a dairy farmer, a professor of Sociology from the Erasmus University  John – founder of the Conquer Poverty Foundation in Rotterdam that hands out groceries to people that need it – and some of his clients.

For this production Featurez gave advice, did all the research, set up, and planning, booked a rental car, did the driving, accompanied the filming and did some of the filming.

This reportage is published on the Featurez.com video page.