Category Archives: Netherlands

Wilders to address right-wing rally in Berlin today

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Dutch politician Geert Wilders, known for his antagonism towards Islam, is to speak at an event in Berlin Saturday organised by a new right-wing party.

Die Freiheit (Freedom) party was founded in September by Rene Stadkewitz, another Islam-critic and a former member of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).

In Berlin early Saturday, police erected barricades aroundthe Hotel Berlin where the event is due to take place, with left-wing groups – under the banner of “Send Geert Wilders Home” – having announced a counter demonstration.

The event comes as fears grow in German mainstream political parties of the emergence of a new anti-immigration, anti-Islam right wing movement.

DPA, 2 Otober 2010

Dutch Christian Democrats vote in favour of Wilders-backed coalition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A majority of Dutch Christian Democrats have voted in support of forming a coalition government backed in parliament by Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV). At a party conference, 68 percent voted in favour of cooperation with the PVV, 32 percent against. A record 4,500 members attended the gathering.

The Christian Democrats intend to form a minority coalition with the right-wing VVD with parliamentary support by the PVV.

A number of prominent Christian Democrats spoke out against any form of cooperation with the PVV. They include two former prime ministers, past and present cabinet ministers and two current MPs. They argued that the PVV discriminates people for their religion and skin colour whereas the CDA aims to bring people together.

A definitive vote on the coalition agreement will be taken next week by the CDA parliamentary party. Under the constitution, MPs are free to vote without any constraints. It is not yet clear how two MPs who voted against the coalition agreement at the party conference will vote when the vote is taken by the parliamentary party.

RNW, 2 October 2010

See also Reuters, 2 October 2010

Wilders delivers anti-Islam speech in Berlin

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In a speech in Berlin Saturday, Dutch far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders said Germany needed a political party that could defend against what he called the dangers of Islam. His visit sparked angry protests.

Populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders, known for his strident anti-Islam and anti-immigration views, has held a speech in a Berlin hotel amid protests outside the venue.

“Germany too needs a political movement that defends the national identity of the country. Germany’s political identity, its economic success, is threatened by Islam,” Wilders told an audience of some 500 people at a hotel in Berlin’s Tiergarten district. “Islam is a dangerous political ideology for everyone,” Wilders, who is facing prosecution in the Netherlands for incitement to hatred, said.

The 47-year-old was invited to Berlin by a party founded in September by Rene Stadtkewitz, a former member of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) who is also a critic of Islam.

The event sparked protests in front of the hotel. Police said some 80 left-wing demonstrators holding up banners reading “Berlin Against Nazis – it’s our Right to Stop Them” and “Send Geert Wilders home” rallied in front of the hotel.

Deutsche Welle, 2 October 2010

Berlin anti-Wilders protest3

Netherlands: coalition deal with Wilders hinges on CDA conference vote

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The formation of a Dutch coalition government hinges on a Christian Democrat congress on Saturday after party legislators failed to resolve divisions over relying on support from the anti-Islam Freedom Party.

The legislators said on Thursday they were unable at a 15-hour meeting overnight to endorse a deal under which the Christian Democrats and Liberal Party would form a minority government with backing in parliament from the Freedom Party.

They said they had agreed to leave the issue to Saturday’s conference of all party members before making a final decision on forming the proposed coalition, whose main task will be to implement austerity measures.

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What does Wilders get from the coalition deal? A ban on the veil and a crackdown on immigration

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Netherlands coalition deal announced2

The Netherlands will ban the burqa, anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders said Thursday following the announcement of a pact to form a minority coalition government backed by his party.

“There will also be a burqa ban,” Wilders told journalists in The Hague, announcing measures agreed on by three parties negotiating to form a new government.

The measures, which seek to cut government spending by 18 billion euros by 2015, should also halve the number of immigrants who enter the Netherlands, the politician said.

“A new wind will blow in the Netherlands,” Wilders said, standing alongside presumed prime minister in waiting Mark Rutte, who leads the pro-business VVD party, and Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) leader Maxime Verhagen – the two parties set to be in government.

Continue reading →

Netherlands: coalition deal with Wilders hinges on CDA conference vote

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The formation of a Dutch coalition government hinges on a Christian Democrat congress on Saturday after party legislators failed to resolve divisions over relying on support from the anti-Islam Freedom Party.

The legislators said on Thursday they were unable at a 15-hour meeting overnight to endorse a deal under which the Christian Democrats and Liberal Party would form a minority government with backing in parliament from the Freedom Party.

They said they had agreed to leave the issue to Saturday’s conference of all party members before making a final decision on forming the proposed coalition, whose main task will be to implement austerity measures.

Prominent members of both the Christian Democrats and Liberal Party have spoken out against working with Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders, who is on trial for inciting hatred against Muslims. Wilders, whose party was the biggest gainer in a June election, has compared the Koran to Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”.

“I have all confidence that an overwhelming majority of the conference (on Saturday) will give its approval,” Christian Democrat leader Maxime Verhagen told reporters in a statement aired live on national television.

Reuters, 30 September 2010

Netherlands: CDA and VVD agree deal with Wilders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The leaders of Dutch right-wing parties say they’ve concluded an agreement for a minority government supported by the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders.

Mark Rutte, head of the Liberal VVD party, announced the accord with the Christian Democratic Alliance and Wilders’ Freedom Party, which will back the government without sitting in the Cabinet. Together, they control 76 of parliament’s 150 seats.

The accord came 3 1/2 months after deadlocked parliamentary elections. Policy details of the alliance were not immediately released.

The accord Tuesday among the party leaders needs approval of the parties’ parliament members. Several members of the Christian Democrats have objected to a government that relies on the anti-immigrant Wilders for its survival.

Associated Press, 28 September 2010

See also Reuters, 28 September 2010

Christian Democrat rift widening over anti-Islam PVV

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Concerns among Dutch Christian Democrat leaders about cooperation with the anti-Islam PVV party are growing by the day. Today, caretaker Christian Democrat Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin voiced grave apprehension at the rift that is emerging in his party over a possible cooperation with the far-right PVV.

In recent weeks, several former Christian Democrat leaders, among them a number of former prime ministers and former cabinet ministers, expressed similar concerns. But now they are being joined by a growing number of current CDA politicians. Health Minister Ab Klink, who recently resigned as coalition negotiator, had so far been the only active CDA minister to voice criticism at cooperation with the PVV.

RNW, 24 September 2010