Dutch anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders celebrated a symbolic breakthrough Thursday as his party won control of its first municipality in a show of strength ahead of June's general election.

"What is possible in The Hague and Almere is possible all over the country," Wilders said after his Party for Freedom (PVV) came first and second in the only two out of 394 municipalities it contested in local polls Wednesday.

"It's a springboard for our victory. We will become the biggest party in the Netherlands on June 9."

While the mainstream Christian Democratic and Labour parties lost support, the PVV emerged with the largest share of the vote (21.6 percent) in Almere, a city of nearly 190,000 people near Amsterdam.

The party also came second in The Hague, the seat of the Dutch government and the third largest city with a population of 442,000.