Far-right populist politician Geert Wilders - who intends to 'de-Islamise' the Netherlands - has launched his election campaign today among tight security.

Groups of protesters gathered as the anti-Islam candidate, who has lived in hiding for more than a decade, launched his bid in Spijkenisse, a blue-collar suburb of Rotterdam.

Surrounded by police, Wilders today handed out fliers and posed for selfies with supporters at a market.

The politician, who was convicted for inciting discrimination in December, plans to shut all mosques, ban the Koran and close borders to refugees and migrants from Muslim countries.

Opponents held up signs saying 'Refugees Welcome' and 'Don't Let Them Scare You'.

The Dutch MP, who is narrowly ahead of Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the polls, marked the campaign launch by deriding 'Moroccan scum'.

Scroll down for video

The controversial populist has said he intends to 'de-Islamise' the Netherlands if he gets into power

A protestor holds a sign reading Refugees Welcome at Wilders in Spijkenisse this morning

Despite the huge mob of protesters that greeted Mr Wilders, there were also supporters to greet him, including this man in a Donald Trump-esque 'Make America Great Again' hat

The latest combined opinion polls give Wilders and his PVV party between 24 and 28 seats in the 150-seat lower house of parliament, two to four seats ahead of Liberal Rutte's ruling VVD party.

Wilders, whose party currently has 12 lawmakers in the house, told reporters today: 'The Moroccan scum in Holland ... once again not all are scum... but there is a lot of Moroccan scum in Holland who make the streets unsafe, mostly young people... and that should change.

'If you want to regain your country, if you want to make The Netherlands for the people of The Netherlands, your own home again, than you can only vote.'

The upcoming election is seen as a litmus test of European politics after Brexit and Donald Trump's victory in the United States.

A young man gets a selfie with Mr Wilders on his mobile phone, as the controversial politician hit the campaign trail today

There was a large scrum around the MP as he launched his election campaign today

A women holds a poster reading 'Don't let yourself be afraid' as Dutch far-right Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders launched his campaign

A supporter of the far-right Pegida movement holds a flier in support of Wilders this morning

Wilders, who has spoken positively in favour of both Trump and Brexit, continued: 'The elections for sure are historical. It's a choice that the people of Holland can make on March 15 whether to give their country away more and more or to get their country back to themselves. To make the Netherlands ours again.'

The Netherlands will go to the polls on March 15, but even if he does win, Wilders would struggle to form a government since most major parties have ruled out joining a coalition with him.

He has previously claimed that 80 per cent of Dutch Muslims believe it is heroic to travel to Syria and fight - a statement hotly disputed by his opponents.

Wilders has lived in hiding since the 2004 murder by an Islamist of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh.

The country goes to the polls on March 15, but most major parties have ruled out joining a coalition with Wilders' Freedom Party

Wilders posed for selfies at the rally, held in a suburb of Rotterdam this morning

Mr Wilders makes his way through the huge crowd of media personnel who were covering the start of his drive

Van Gogh, who had made a controversial film named Submission about the treatment of women in the Islamic community, was gunned down by Dutch-Moroccan Mohammed Bouyeri.

Since then Wilders has lived in a safe house, having received death threats from terror groups including ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

He often ventures outside in a bulletproof vest and is guarded at all times. He has been described as 'the best protected man in The Netherlands'.

Rabble-rousing speeches by the far-right politician have seen him single out Moroccans and Muslims, and his controversial views are gaining traction in the Netherlands.

He has previously stated of Moroccans: 'They happily accept our dole, houses and doctors but not our rules and values.'

Last month he attempted to plaster 'Stop Islam' advertisements on the side of trams in the country.

Wilders has branded the Dutch parliamentary election the start of a 'Patriotic Spring' in Europe, where French and German voters go to the polls in May and September.

Wilders and his Party for Freedom has led in opinion polls for most of the past two years, but the fragmented political landscape means a coalition government of four or more parties is all but inevitable.

In December, Wilders was convicted of inciting discrimination for leading supporters in a chant that they wanted 'Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!' Moroccans in the country.

A supporter hands the Dutch far-right populist flowers at a launch event this morning

Wilders often ventures outside in a bulletproof vest and is guarded at all times. He has been described as 'the best protected man in The Netherlands'

The controversial politician was convicted of inciting discrimination in December

The controversial far-right populist has pledged to 'de-Islamise' the Netherlands if elected

In an interview with Associated Press this week, he denied his policies would be illegal to implement.

Wilders said: 'A constitution is not something that is (set) in stone and can never be changed.

'It's alive as a society is alive and we are now being threatened by mass immigration and Islamisization and what I see as the toxic combination of mass immigration from Islamic countries and at the same time a total lack of demanding for people to assimilate and to integrate.'

His rise in popularity has been seen as a breakdown in the traditional Dutch values of tolerance.

Wilders responded: 'I don't want to get rid of the typical Dutch tolerance. But it's cultural suicide that we, at the end of the day, keep on being tolerant to the intolerant. That should stop as soon as possible.'

If elected, he said, he plans to take the Netherlands out of the European Union.

If Wilders' PVV party finishes first but is unable to form a government, Rutte will be left trying to forge a centrist coalition with several parties that share little more than opposition to Wilders.

One of the far-right politician's supporters holds up a leaflet handed out during Wilders' launch event today

A woman holds a fake hundred guilder note, the Dutch currency before the introduction of the Euro,carrying the portrait of anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders

In that case 'we will stay put and manage the country until there is a new coalition,' Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Tuesday, quipping the situation could persist for 'years' under the constitution.

The Netherlands, a country of 17million that relies heavily on foreign trade, in 2005 rejected the European constitution and last year voted down a treaty for closer EU ties with Ukraine.

A poll by Motivaction on Tuesday showed more than 61 per cent of respondents see Dutch politicians as 'elitist, unreliable and dishonest.'

Around 37 per cent of likely voters said they hadn't decided who to vote for.

'I find it difficult to make a decision,' said Renee Keijzer, from the town of Volendam. 'So much has happened in the world that it is hard to position yourself properly.'