Far-right leader Geert Wilders has met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an international conference organised by Italian think tank Ambrosetti.

The surprise meeting at Lake Como was privately arranged without the knowledge of the Dutch government, according to reports in Het Parool. It came a week after prime minister Dick Schoof visited Zelenskyy in Zaporizhzhia.

The PVV leader stressed he was not acting as a representative of the Dutch government, as “the leader of the biggest party in the Dutch parliament”.

“There is a lot of support for your country and your fight,” he added. “People should see what is happening.”

“Thank you to your country and your people for very much supporting us,” Zelensky said after shaking hands with Wilders.

In a post on X, better known as Twitter, Wilders said the two men also discussed “corruption in Ukraine, the chances of peace and the conditions for that, the Nord Stream issue and the Ukrainian men who are staying in the Netherlands rather than helping in Ukraine.”

F-16 jets

Zelensky said in a post on his official website that he was especially grateful to the Dutch for providing air support, including F-16 fighter jets, and taking in refugees from his country.

“We are very grateful for the help and warm attitude that our forced migrants have received in the Netherlands since the beginning of the full-scale war. Thank you for all the support provided,” he said.

The encounter was noteworthy because Wilders’s PVV has been the most critical of the four right-wing coalition parties towards support for Ukraine.

The outline coalition agreement, which the PVV supports, includes a pledge to continue “military, financial and diplomatic” support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

But PVV senators voted against an aid package in February and the party abstained during a recent vote in the European parliament on whether to continue EU support.

The PVV declined to back the motion because it said the issue should be decided by member states, even though the EU has provided more than €88 billion to Ukraine since the start of the invasion.

“Send them back”

Immediately after Schoof’s official visit a week ago, Wilders tweeted: “Did you discuss the deep-seated corruption over there, prime minister, or just bring money?”

And on Monday the PVV leader said the temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees that gives them the right to live and work in the EU should not be extended beyond March 2025, or even ended sooner.

“Our country is full to bursting,” he tweeted. “Ukrainian men who can help defend and rebuild their homeland should be sent back to Ukraine.”