For a small nation that has grown hugely wealthy thanks to centuries of doing business far and wide, the political mood in the Netherlands has turned surprisingly inward.As a March 15 parliamentary election looms in the Netherlands - one of the founding members of the European Union - popular lawmaker Geert Wilders is dominating polls with an isolationist manifesto that calls for the Netherlands "to be independent again. So out of the EU."After Britons voted last year to divorce from the EU, could a Dutch departure -known here as "Nexit," after "Brexit" - be close behind?"I see the European Union as an old Roman Empire that is ceasing to exist. It will happen," Wilders said in an interview with the Associated Press.Wilders' Party for Freedom is a serious contender to win the popular vote, with most polls a month out from the election showing it ahead of all other parties. Over the past dozen years, the Dutch have already voted in referenda against EU proposals twice.Few analysts think "Nexit" would materialize: Despite his popularity, Wilders will struggle to find coalition partners among mainstream parties, which shun him and his strident anti-Islam, anti-EU rhetoric.Then again, few observers predicted last year that Britain would vote to become the first country to leave the EU, so the worries are real about the possible effects of a Nexit - or a further disintegration of European unity driven by the rise of nationalist populism throughout the continent.An exit from the EU would likely deal a huge blow to Rotterdam, a cosmopolitan city known for its port, one of the world's busiest. The city employs 90,000 people, and a further 90,000 are directly linked to its activities elsewhere in the country.Port of Rotterdam corporate strategist Michiel Nijdam believed a Dutch exit from the EU seemed unlikely, though not impossible."Because we are so dependent on our trade with other countries that it would clearly hurt us so much that I don't think it's likely," he said. "But you never know what happens if a lot of people think it's a good idea and you vote on a party that is pro-Nexit."If the Netherlands were to leave the EU, he said, "suddenly we are confronted with all kinds of trade restrictions. That could have, you know, a very negative impact on the Dutch economy."