World News : Dutch step up anti-euro election campaign

AMSTERDAM (World News) - Dutch parties vying for the euroskeptic vote in September elections stepped up campaigning on Friday, with one small Christian party considering a north-south euro zone breakup and another seeking to block approval of the euro zone's bailout fund.

Geert Wilders, the anti-euro, anti-immigration lawmaker, lost a bid to delay a parliamentary vote on the permanent euro zone emergency fund, a move largely seen as an attempt to attract the anti-austerity electorate.

It was not immediately clear if a suggestion by the Christian Union, which holds five seats in the 150-seat lower house, to divide the euro zone along geographic lines, had any wider political support.

Major Dutch parties were not immediately available to comment.

A majority of the Dutch still want the euro, but public opposition to deep cuts needed to meet the EU's budget deficit target of 3 percent of gross domestic product is clearly rising.

Support for five parties that back budget cuts to meet the EU requirements fell sharply last month to below a level needed to form a governmen t, a recent poll showed.

"We don't want to be caught in a funnel, with the idea that there is only one solution," Arie Slob, head of the Christian Union, said. "We want to look into the pros and cons of splitting the euro zone between northern and southern countries."

The rise of a party which rejects Greece's international bailout - effectively threatening its membership of the euro - has been one factor behind the reigniting of the euro zone's debt crisis over the past month.

While euro zone action in the crisis has chiefly been driven by France and Germany, the Netherlands has often been a strong outlying voice as one of the bloc's "core" member and one of four that have held on to their triple-A debt ratings.

The crisis continued to deepen on Friday, with Spanish bond yields back close to their highest levels ever and the eur o at an almost two-year low, driven by concerns over

APPEAL CONSIDERED

A district court in The Hague on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Wilders to delay a vote on the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) until after September 12 general elections.

Wilders told Dutch television the ruling was "very bitter" and his lawyers were considering an appeal.

Lawyers representing Wilders, who leads the anti-European, anti-Islam populist Freedom Party, had argued that the ratification process should be delayed because a caretaker government should not be allowed to deal with a decision as important as the ESM.

Wilders brought down the Dutch government in April over disagreement about austerity measures needed to meet the EU's budget deficit target of 3 percent of gross domestic product.

Judges ruled on Friday that it was not up to the courts to interfere in the legislative process, which is driven by national political interests.

"The arguments presented by Wilders do not show the state acted illegally and their demands will be dismissed," a court statement said.

Dutch courts rarely interfere in political decisions.

SINKING SHIP

The 500 billion euro ($ 627 billion) European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will come into force in July provided it has been ratified by at least 12 of the euro's 17 member states. It is designed to help stabilize markets by showing that Europe can support heavily indebted countries.

Financial markets have watched Ireland's referendum on the fund - passed on Friday - nervously over the symbolism of a rejection of the fund by o ne of its members and the fallout for Ireland that might follow.

A threat to the treaty in one of the country's AAA-rated states would be a stronger signal of divisions within the bloc. But the lower house of the Dutch parliament passed the ESM last week by a two-thirds majority and it is expected to be approved by the Senate this month.

Wilders, who gained prominence on an anti-immigration platform, wants the Netherlands to leave the euro zone. He has also been the most outspoken Dutch opponent to the Greek bailout.

His Freedom Party is the third-largest in the Dutch Lower House and Wilders hopes to win parliamentary elections by casting them as a referendum on Europe and the euro.

"This sinking ship called Europe, this sinking ship that keeps costing more money," he told parliament this week during a debate about austerity. "Th ey will just use our money to party in the sun."