Dutch PM Rutte claims victory in voting, says 'populism' halted

THE HAGUE - The Netherlands has rejected "the wrong kind of populism", Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Wednesday after exit polls in the parliamentary election showed his center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, known as VVD, would keep its position as the biggest party.

"It seems that the VVD will be the largest party three times in a row," Rutte told a crowd of cheering supporters at an election night gathering at the World Trade Center in The Hague.

"It is an evening when the Netherlands said stop to the wrong kind of populism after Brexit and the US elections," Rutte said.