Thierry Baudet was born in 1983, he graduated at Leiden University as a Doctor of Philosophy with a thesis on national and European identity, and multiculturalism. He founded a think tank, the Forum for Democracy (Forum voor Democracy, FvD), which was the basis of his later established party with the same name. He was elected to Dutch MP as the leader of the FvD. The FvD became the largest party in several provinces during the provincial elections in 2019, than got 11 percent on the EP election. Though many politicians defected the party in 2020, the FvD reached 8 seats on the parliamentary election 2021. The central issues of Mr. Baudet and th FvD are the critique of the European integration and the protection of national identity.

On 2021.03.17 Dutch voters elected a new Parliament and the party system notably changed. The Dutch right transformed: The PVV lost three seats, the FvD received eight seats, up six from the previous election. Two new right-wing actors appeared in the Parliament: the JA21, which split from the FvD, and the Farmer–Citizen Movement which grow up from the agrarian protests in 2019. From the Christian democratic parties, the biggest one, the CDA fall back, while the two smaller, the CU and the SGP gained the same electoral result as in the last general election. The party of prime minister Mark Rutte, the VVD win four parliamentary elections in a row. The left-wing parties could not boost their popularity, but a new party with pan-European programme and identity, the Volt, received 3 seats. A review about this complex and changing political context by our guest, Thierry Baudet.

 

Apple Podcast: HERE.