European Parliament president Mr Pat Cox has said he hoped the future Dutch government would "hold fast to the fundamental values of Europe", while stressing the EU did not interfere in the internal affairs of its member states.
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Mr Pat Cox
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Speaking in French, Mr Cox told reporters: "Like France recently, the Netherlands has lived through serious and somewhat exceptional events."
He was referring to the results of the Dutch elections yesterday, which saw the far-right, anti-immigrant party of murdered politician Pim Fortuyn gain 26 seats in parliament and a good chance of being included in the next coalition government.
Mr Cox did not say explicitly whether the presence of the party in the government would in itself be a violation of European values.
The EU made a similar expression of concern last month when French extreme-right leader Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen made it through to the second round of his country's presidential election, causing a major political upset.
However Mr Le Pen was roundly defeated in the second round of the election by Mr Jacques Chirac, the outgoing conservative president.
AFP