Dutch elections a bellwether for Europe

Elections in the Netherlands today will test the strength of the populist movement in Europe. Two-term Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte leads in the polls, but populist lawmaker Geert Wilders is a close second. Coming after last year’s British vote to leave the European Union and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, Rutte said he hopes to slow the momentum of what he called the “wrong sort of populism.” Wilders insisted that whatever the result of today’s election, “the genie will not go back into the bottle. People feel misrepresented.” He predicted nationalists and conservatives would do well in elections later this year in France and Germany, too.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.