Europe watches as Dutch vote

Millions of Dutch flocked to the polls yesterday in a test of the "patriotic revolution" promised by far-right MP Geert Wilders, with Europe closely watching the outcome amid signs his support may be waning.

Following last year's shock Brexit referendum, and Donald Trump's victory in the US, the Dutch vote is seen as a gauge of populism on the continent ahead of key elections in France and Germany this year.

The Dutch election has also been gatecrashed by an explosive row with Turkey.

Wilders voted in a school in The Hague, mobbed by hundreds of reporters, as final polls suggested he was trailing the Liberal VVD party of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

"Whatever the outcome of the election today, the genie will not go back into the bottle. And this patriotic revolution, whether today or tomorrow, will stay," Wilders said.

Polls close at 2000 GMT, with exit polls expected shortly after.

On a warm spring day, queues began swelling early and the research institute IPSOS said turnout was already "a lot" higher than at the same point in 2012 when final participation was 74 percent.

Amid the tussle between Rutte and Wilders, many of the 12.9 million eligible voters had been wavering between the 28 parties running.

Wilders has pledged to close the borders to Muslim immigrants, shut mosques, ban sales of the Koran and leave the EU.