The Dutch parliamentary vote count is almost complete. With roughly 99.6% of ballots tallied, Geert Wilders’s anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV) holds a razor-thin lead over the centrist D66 — a gap of fewer than 1,400 votes. Significant pockets of ballots remain, including parts of Amsterdam and about 135,000 votes cast abroad, so the final positions could still shift.
Symbolically, which party finishes first matters, but practically the result looks likely to hand the initiative to D66. The party’s leader, Rob Jetten, is expected to take the lead in coalition talks to form the next government. Most mainstream parties have publicly ruled out governing with Wilders after tensions that saw his PVV bring down the previous coalition, so Wilders is likely to return to opposition even if his party finishes narrowly ahead.
That does not mean forming a government will be straightforward. Negotiations between potential partners are expected to be lengthy and complex; observers widely predict the process could take months before a new administration is agreed. The outgoing prime minister, Dick Schoof, quipped he hopes talks conclude by August next year — partly because he plans to run a marathon in Sydney — but there is no firm deadline. The electoral council’s official confirmation of the final result is anticipated next week.
In related international news, Ukraine said it was hit overnight by a large coordinated strike involving more than 650 drones and about 50 missiles. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported strikes on residential areas and energy infrastructure across many regions and said dozens of people were injured in attacks on places including Zaporizhzhia, where at least two people were reported killed. Regional officials reported additional injuries elsewhere. Zelenskyy described the strikes as part of Russia’s sustained campaign against civilian life and urged stronger, concrete consequences from the US, Europe and G7 nations.
I will follow developments in the Netherlands and reactions abroad as remaining ballots are counted and coalition talks begin. It is Thursday, 30 October 2025 — Jakub Krupa, Europe Live. Good morning.
