European leaders are overwhelmingly positive after Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Netherlands came out as the winner of the election.
The German Prime Minister, Angela Merkel, congratulated Rutte by phone on Thursday.
– I look forward to continuing to work as friends, neighbours and Europeans, she said according to her spokesman Steffen Seibert.
President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has also been on the line with Rutte:
– A choice for Europe, a choice against extremists, summed Juncker up.
Former Prime Minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, commented on the election outcome via Twitter:
– Increased attendance and a clear victory in the Netherlands for what we may term the decent centre. Encouraging for everyone. Bildt tweeted
Many of the comments from abroad also noted that the right wing populist Geert Wilders failed to advance into the government offices after his party PVV only got 19 of 150 seats in the parliament.
– Congratulations to the Dutch people on halting the rise of the extreme right, writes French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Twitter.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni also expressed himself on social media:
– No #Nexit. The Anti-EU right has lost the elections in the Netherlands.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
