As a member of the dutch green party, these are emotional days. By first time in almost a decade, we dutch greens have a real chance to form government. But at the same time we witnessed a historical record of gained votes by a xenophobic right wing party, the Freedom's Party from Geert Wilders. The celebrations of past days have a strange lining, knowing that the other celebrating party is the one that represent all what we fight against. Meanwhile Wilders' party want to stop the migration of muslims, we strive for integration of minorities in our society. When the Freedom party thinks that global warming is just a media mirage, we sought to incorporate the fight against environmental damage in a newly empowered economy. How comes that a country can reward the two parties that are most opposed in the same election? Few days after the dutch elections we witnesses a similarly dumbfounding result in the Belgium elections. The electorate choose to reward two parties that are at the opposite extremes of the political spectrum. Even if the Belgium case might be understood in the context of the culturally different regions of Belgium, still it shows an unprecedented dichotomy. Is this polarization a blip in european politics, or a sign of a rather concerning trend?

One of the noticeable characteristic of the dutch campaign was its total dislocation from european politics. Not too surprisingly though, since this was not only another national campaign, but one in a country that rejected the EU constitution, back in 2007. Europe is not a popular campaign issue in The Netherlands. And still, the level of disconnection was high. It looked almost as if we wanted only to look at ourselves, forgetting that we are just another member of a coalition, where the developments of one country affect, beyond any doubt, the others. And so is the question: what is the relevance of the dutch elections for europe? What do tell us, europeans, the electoral trends in the small netherlands?

Let it be said, in first place, that the result of the dutch elections is by no means an exception in today's europe. From Spain to England -passing by Belgium- the greens are in the move, gaining almost unprecedented amount of votes everywhere. And at the same time, the far right is also in the move all across europe. Let us remind ourselves that traditionally centrist parties, like the english tories, had joined the far right in the european parliament, which has transformed itself from a fringe curiosity to a not irrelevant political force. Christian democrats parties, mostly centrists, have seen abrupt cuts in their electoral share. In one word, polarization is the narrative of our years. 

The traditional enemies of polarization, Social and Christian democrats, are responsible for the creation of the europe that most of us know today. All across europe a political culture of diminishing disagreements and building consensus reigned, creating a welfare state where pretty much anybody have the right to a reasonable level of social security. The levels of poverty seen in many other countries are not to be seen in Europe. So... Why would we want to change our leadership? Has the consensus building model of european politics proved itself insufficient?

One hypothesis to explain the failure of centralism in the last elections could be called "the tragedy of success". It is possible to think that the long term goals of Social- and Christian Democrats are already accomplished, and in one way or another the electorate is well aware of it. These big political families might have nothing else to offer than "more of the same", and are accordingly considered irrelevant. It could be that fifty years ago the attainment of a reasonably compassionate capitalism was an ideal dream, but today is pretty much the european reality. What remains as the unattained dream is the harmonizing of that capitalism with the evident depletion of natural resources. Or, said otherwise, living in a way that combines welfare and low ecological impact is still a dream that every european cherish, but few parties focus on. Perhaps is here to be found the reasons for political success of the green european parties: with all their shortcomings, they do focus in one of the big questions of our time.

The other relevant question of our age, without doubt, is the aculturalization that both migrants and residents experience today. As a migrant myself I can attest to the many difficulties contained in the process of making a new country my own. And much has been written about the fast change that many european neighborhoods have experienced  in the last decades, with the inflow of migrants. It is also difficult for the european resident to adapt to a reality that in few decades became multicultural, to say the least. No doubt the fast and disruptive migration experienced in Europe explains the rise of the xenophobic, or nationalistic right wing parties. 

As a registered member of the european green party, it is my own opinion that natural resources are being depleted, with increasing damage to our quality of life. I also think that migrants are here to stay, posing daily challenges to the european status quo. I can not foresee a realistic european politics that denies these two basic facts of our reality. But independently of my own convictions, or the convictions of my political opponents that perceive those facts in a very different light, it is undeniable that the traditional politics of social and christian democrats is being driven out, or driven itself out of the two questions that our day pose to governments. Will we -greens and xenophobic's- miss the centrist politics of yore? Probably. Europe successes are build in a desire of consensus, in a drive to harmonize the intrinsic cultural differences that must coexist in this small part of the world. The results of last european elections signal to a future of striking disagreements and unworkable coalitions. But also signal to a new chapter of european politics. If there is anything to advice to a emerging european politician, is to focus in the questions that are driving electors right now.

For once, this will be no empty populism.