Gabriel Attal visited the Netherlands on Wednesday March 6. He spoke with the resigning Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, one of the European leaders closest to the French government. But it is very possible that this will be the first and last official visit of the French Prime Minister to his liberal right counterpart, who aspires to a career in NATO. The victory of the far right in the November legislative elections leaves the shadow of a Eurosceptic future hanging over the Netherlands, the polar opposite of Paris.
2 mins
With our correspondent in The Hague, Antoine Mouteau
At the Binnenhof, the seat of government in The Hague, the Prime Minister Mark Rutte first congratulated Gabriel Attal for his recent appointment to Matignon: “ Gabriel, much success to you! I am very happy that so soon after your appointment as Prime Minister you are already here in The Hague. »
For the new French Prime Minister, time was running out for a visit to Mark Rutte. Emmanuel Macron’s great ally in Europe, the latter is leaving. He is tipped as the next secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
But above all, the far-right MP Geert Wildersbig winner of November legislative electionsis still trying to form a government, in the hope of quickly succeeding him as Prime Minister.
“ I am not in the habit of commenting on electoral results which take place in countries other than France. What I would say is that we will always seek and that France will always seek to find political leaders who pursue an objective, which is the one that we share with Mark Rutte, which is that of the defense and protection of Europeans at all levels “, declared Gabriel Attal.
It was a great pleasure to meet today the new French Prime Minister, @GabrielAttal. Our countries, united by close ties, act together on multiple fronts, both bilaterally and within the European framework. This is all the more important in the… pic.twitter.com/zd5kkZW6er
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) March 6, 2024
In the meantime, Geert Wildersclose to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, announced his participation in April, in Budapest, in a major international conference of Eurosceptic conservatives.
Read alsoThe Netherlands still without a government, Geert Wilders in a delicate situation