European Politics > Sweden's Lofven Could Be Dumped; Will EU Crumble - Whose Nexit?

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Israel's PM Netanyahu was knocked off his long-sustained perch last week, and now it appears Stefan Lofven may finally be knocked off his. The two couldn't be more different but both are subject to political assault.

Sweden’s Christian Democrats vow to vote against Prime Minister Lofven in vote of no-confidence, following Left & Sweden Democrats

17 Jun, 2021 13:23

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven (FILE PHOTO) © Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/via REUTERS

 

The leader of Sweden’s Christian Democrats has said his party will vote in favor of ousting center-left Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in a no-confidence vote, after the Left Party withdrew its support for the government.

On Thursday, the leader of the Christian Democrats, Ebba Busch, vowed to vote against center-left Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s government. “We were against the Lofven government when it came into power,” Busch told a news conference. “We will vote to oust it,” she added. 

The country’s right-wing party, the Sweden Democrats, submitted a vote of no confidence against the government on Thursday. “If we have a chance to replace this damaging government we will take it,” Henrik Vinge, the Sweden Democrat’s parliamentary group leader, told a news conference. The anti-migrant party currently holds one-fifth of the parliament’s seats. 

The move was triggered after the Left Party, which is not part of the government but has backed the prime minister frequently, said on Thursday it would no longer support Lofven. “We are now seeking support for a vote of no-confidence,” Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar later told reporters during a news conference after rumors spread online. 

The Left fell out with Lofven over plans to ease rent control rules for newly built apartments.

A vote is set to take place on June 21, which may topple the uneasy minority coalition of Social Democrats and Greens that has ruled for over two years. To succeed, a vote of no-confidence would require the support of half of the parliament’s 349 members.

Is the EU about to crumble?

The bloc has never been so weak — just ask the Dutch

BY AYAAN HIRSI ALI

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an UnHerd columnist. She is also a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Founder of the AHA Foundation, and host of The Ayaan Hirsi Ali Podcast. Her new book is Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights.

June 16, 2021

  

Almost five years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, the bloc faces an existential question: which, if any, of the remaining 27 countries will be next?

European cohesion is threatened by a range of serious issues; some internal, some external. Mass migration and the challenge it poses to integration remains the most daunting challenge. Last year may have seen a lull in migrant crossings as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but they are ramping back up, largely from Libya. (Indeed, it is surely only a matter of time before politicians fall prey to their usual smoke and mirrors rhetoric about the “benefits” of mass migration in the context of an ageing population, without much credence given to concerns for cultural integration or assimilation.)

Meanwhile, the EU remains plagued by recurrent tensions over its pandemic response, particularly in regard to vaccine distribution. The European Recovery Fund also had a shaky path to approval, which left many member-states dissatisfied.

But will another member state leave? If you believe the bookies, the odds-on favourite is Italy (available at 3/1) — followed by Greece (6/1) and France (8/1). But as the Brexit referendum demonstrated, the bookies don’t always make the right call — and it would be unwise to rule out the country sitting in fourth place: the Netherlands (12/1). In fact, I believe it’s a strong contender. 

Of all the EU-27 countries, I am most familiar with the Netherlands, where I served as a Member of Parliament from 2003 until 2006. One of my strongest memories of that period was my first trip, along with some of the freshmen Dutch legislators, to the European Parliament in Brussels. Compared with our modest parliament building, the EU building was grand and impressive.

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At lunch, which started as early as 11.30am, we were welcomed with trays of tall flutes filled with the best champagne. We were then served a lavish meal, accompanied by bottle after bottle of wine. This “working” lunch went on until 3.30 p.m.

The week after, back in the national Parliament canteen with its modest assortment of sandwiches, my Dutch colleagues and I were obsessed with one question: who paid for this scandalous extravagance? In the years since, the Dutch have continued to question the financial benefit of remaining an EU member — and it’s not hard to see why.

In 2018, for example, the Netherlands contributed €4.845 billion to the EU; but in return, Brussels spent only €2.470 billion in the country. The European Union’s own website claims that “the EU budget doesn’t aim to redistribute wealth”; in the Netherlands, that doesn’t seem to quite add up.

Over the past decade, the Dutch, who are notoriously frugal, have become increasingly frustrated with the frivolity of EU spending. Exacerbating this irritation is the fact that the Netherlands is the largest net contributor to the EU budget per capita. Meanwhile, the Dutch parliament is grappling over how to afford the maintenance of the equivalent of their NHS and the rising costs of healthcare for an ageing society. Dutch health authorities estimate healthcare spending will double between 2020 and 2040, to €200 billion euros per year, up from €106 billion in 2019.

More important, though, are questions pertaining to national sovereignty and control over sensitive political issues. Every Tuesday morning, I and my fellow MPs would gather to debate both domestic and international issues. Naturally, these discussions sometimes became heated — but this principally occurred when we were told that a decision had to be made by an anonymous, faraway EU official, rather than by us.

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Increasingly, we found that we didn’t have the last word on many of the issues that mattered most to us: immigration, terrorism and agriculture, among others. Nor was this feeling confined to the Dutch political class. When, in 2005, EU countries were presented with the prospect of creating a bloc-wide constitution, only two countries held a referendum that ultimately rejected the proposals: the Netherlands and France.

True, there are still glaring differences between the UK and the Netherlands that make “Nexit” seem impractical. The UK wisely never joined the monetary union, while the Netherlands was among the first to adopt the euro two decades ago. Not only do they share a currency with much of the continent, the Netherlands is also more dependent on the single market than Britain was. And then there’s the fact that the United Kingdom is the sixth-largest economy in the world, while the Netherlands trails a distant 17th (with four other European Union countries ranking higher). While the Dutch see their country as the gateway to Europe, they are not their own island, separated by a Channel, apart from the rest of Europe.

Yet, since I left office, the frictions between the EU and the Netherlands have only worsened. This month, I&O Research, a research agency for the Dutch government, released a report that showed “a larger proportion of the Dutch are still dissatisfied (43%) than satisfied (37%) with what the European Union is doing”.

And while this same report confirmed that there is still nothing close to a majority for “Nexit” — a position with adherents only among the populist FvD and PVV parties — it did reveal that “in a referendum on whether the Netherlands should remain a member of the European Union, 61% would now vote for ‘remain in the EU.’” Less than a year ago, the figure was 72 percent. That is a striking decrease of support for the EU. The 61% figure is also striking for another reason — it’s lower than the proportion of Brits who supported Remain a year before the Brexit vote (66%). And we all know how that turned out.

Context was everything in the UK five years ago. We forget now how unlikely Brexit seemed to most commentators — until the first, stunning results came in from northern English cities such as Sunderland.

Today, the context has shifted for one fundamental reason. Brexit has happened, and it has not been the unmitigated disaster that so many Remainers predicted. On the contrary, the UK’s superior vaccine strategy — nimble where the EU’s was lumbering and bureaucratic — provided a better advertisement for “taking back control” than anything in the original Leave campaign.

Could watching a successful exit by the UK push the Dutch population further in this direction? Don’t rule it out.

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Italian Authorities Arrest Captain of Migrant Rescue Ship Ending Standoff

Captain challenges Italy's policy of not accepting more migrants

By Clyde Hughes

Sea Watch 3 captain Carola Rackete (C) is arrested after entering the port of Lampedusa Saturday morning.

Photo by Selene Magnolia/EPA-EFE

(UPI) -- Italian authorities arrested the captain of a migrant rescue vessel Saturday morning after it docked into a port off the Lampedusa island, ending a more than a two-week standoff.

The Sea-Watch 3, after rescuing about 40 migrants off the coast of Libya, sat in the Mediterranean Sea prepared to test new Italian laws closing its ports to such rescue vessels. Italy's anti-immigrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini had closed the port to fleeing migrants in June 2018.

Sea-Watch 3 captain Carola Rackete said she was determined to get the migrants to safety, knowing that she would get arrested and fined.

"Even though in the afternoon the prosecution has opened an investigation against me, at the same time they notified us that they will not help to bring the rescued off the ship," Rackete said in a video recorded before the ship was docked. "I have decided to enter the harbor, which is free at night, on my own."

The German-owned Sea-Watch 3 sails under the flag of the Netherlands. Salvini celebrated Rackete's arrest on social media while criticizing the Dutch. The ministry said the ship will be confiscated and fined from $23,000 and $57,000.

"Happy Saturday folks," Salvini said on Facebook, in reference to Rachete's arrest. "Shame on the silence of the Dutch government."

The Italian foreign ministry said that Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal stepped up to take in the migrants.

But not the Netherlands!!!???

Lampedusa Island

Carla Del Ponte: The Netherlands is Possibly Complicit in War Crimes in Syria

Article is from trouw.nl and translated from Dutch by Google

It nicely complements the previous article on this blog 

Ghassan Dahhan and Milena Holdert 

The Swiss lawyer Carla Del Ponte. She was a member of the UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria until last year. © ANP

Carla Del Ponte is 'shocked' that the Netherlands provided support to combat groups known to violate human rights. 

The Swiss is former chief prosecutor of the Yugoslavia Tribunal and until last year was a member of the UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria. "All parties in the conflict commit crimes. The Netherlands knows that the opposition is committing war crimes. "

"All parties in the conflict commit crimes.

The Netherlands knows that the opposition is committing war crimes. "

Carla Del Ponte, UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria

Del Ponte responds to the results of research by Trouw and Nieuwsuur about  the support to the Syrian armed opposition. She reported from 2012 to 2017 on behalf of the United Nations on war crimes and human rights violations in Syria, not only by the regime of President Assad, but also by armed opposition groups. "We wrote in our reports from 2013 that all conflict groups in the Syrian conflict were guilty of war crimes," said Del Ponte.

The Netherlands had a seat in the UN Human Rights Council from 2015 to 2017, which included the Del Ponte committee. Del Ponte remembers the Dutch ambassador Karel van Oosterom. "He knew exactly what was in our reports, he even knew the details of the research," said Del Ponte. And, she adds: "The Netherlands had enough people, and information from the intelligence services. And certainly the Netherlands, and the other European countries, because they exchange all this information. So they know exactly what happened in Syria! "

The decision of the Netherlands in 2015 to provide support surprises Del Ponte. "Why did the Netherlands do this? The Netherlands could have done enough to send humanitarian aid through the United Nations? "She pleads for an international tribunal that investigates war crimes in Syria and also needs to examine the interference of countries such as the Netherlands. "Thorough research is needed. Not only the Netherlands, but also other states have supported the Syrian war. They could be complicit in committing war crimes. "

In reports that Del Ponte's commission drew up, the Sultan Murad Brigade is explicitly mentioned. That is  one of the groups of  which research by Trouw and Nieuwsuur shows that they have had help from the Netherlands. According to Del Ponte's research, this group would suppress the inhabitants of Aleppo. The Netherlands supported the Sultan Murad brigade from 2016, and continued the support until the beginning of 2018. Even after the publication of Del Ponte's alarming report.

Great doubts

Both the EU and the UN always had serious doubts about support for Syrian rebel groups. Other EU countries decided not to provide this support, including Austria. The then Austrian foreign minister, Michael Spindelegger (OVP), vetoed when France and Britain wanted to supply weapons and logistics equipment to the Syrian armed opposition from an EU perspective. He had strong doubts about the so-called 'moderate armed opposition', which according to him regularly changed leadership and had no clear structure. And besides, he says to Trouw and Nieuwsuur: 'We as Austria felt that you should not simply join forces in one side of the conflict. We did not want to send weapons and equipment to the Syrian opposition while we did not know exactly who these people were."

A good and moral decision by Austria. Unfortunately, their moral character seems to be out of place among the western powers that seem willing to support anyone who will fight against Assad.

Spindleegger already questioned the 'moderate' nature of the insurgents at the time, which included support from the US. 'It was quite possible that the weapons and equipment that you sent to these groups could ultimately be used against Europeans themselves.' Spindelegger calls the qualification 'non-lethal material' a 'gray area'. Pick-up trucks that are used to transport weapons or even to assemble are difficult to separate from weapons themselves in practice.

Dutch Official Reportedly Commits Suicide After Posting Video Claiming Muslim Gang-Rape

Islamization - Gang-Rape and Suicide in the Netherlands

By Greg Norman | Fox News

Willie Dille, a city councilor at The Hague, reportedly committed suicide this week.  (Dutch Parliament)

A Dutch city council member reportedly committed suicide just hours after posting a video online in which she claimed to have been gang-raped by a group of Muslims who were following the orders of a former fellow member of her anti-immigration PVV party.

Willie Dille, a 53-year-old who represented the PVV in parliament from 2010 to 2012 and later became a city councilor at The Hague, killed herself Wednesday after she “could no longer bear what had happened to her and the reactions she had had,” local PVV leader Karen Gerbrands told Dutch News.

In a video Dille reportedly posted online earlier in the day, she claimed former PVV parliament member Arnoud van Doorn – who apparently disliked her -- ordered the attack, which allegedly happened in early 2017.

Obviously something very traumatic happened to her

The video reportedly showed Dille pale and thin-looking. She claimed she was told by the attackers to keep quiet in the council debating chamber, amongst other threats she said to have received. The footage ended with her saying she was resigning her council seat, Dutch News reported.

The mayor of The Hague, Pauline Krikke, described Dille in a statement as someone who was “involved and passionate” with politics, the website added.

Van Doorn, however, denies the alleged attack and says he is weighing his legal options after his name surfaced.

Police also told the AD newspaper that Dille never made a formal complaint to them about the alleged attack.

“We offered her help and said we need a formal complaint and concrete evidence to start an investigation. But she did not make a formal complaint and we did not get any concrete information to enable us to launch an inquiry,” spokesperson Hilde Vijverberg said, according to Dutch News.

You need concrete evidence to start an investigation? Isn't that what an investigation is for?

Do you not know that victims of gang-rape are severely messed up psychologically? Her suicide should make that obvious, or do you need concrete proof? Gang-rape victims need every bit of help they can possibly get, and it appears she got none from you. Will you now investigate her claims, or does she have to come back from the dead and file a formal complaint?

As the Muslim population in the Netherlands grows, they become more and more powerful and less and less tolerant of criticism. You are committing cultural suicide; Willie's death should bring that message home.

'Police Can No Longer Handle the Lawless Jungle After Dark in Amsterdam' - Ombudsman

The New Normal - Amsterdam after dark

FILE PHOTO: Aan overturned car in Amsterdam © Cris Toala Olivares / Reuters

As dark descends on Amsterdam, the Dutch tourist hotspot turns into an “urban jungle” where the police are powerless to handle crime, violence and drug trade, Arre Zuurmond, the city's ombudsman, warned.

"The city center becomes an urban jungle at night," Zuurmond told Dutch paper, Trouw. "Criminal money flourishes, there is no authority and the police can no longer handle the situation."

Drugs are being sold openly in the streets, pedestrian areas are used for car and bike races, there’s widespread theft and other offenses, the ombudsman said, using the world “mayhem” to describe what’s happening in the city.

Earlier, Zuurmond set up three CCTV cameras at the busy Leidseplein square ringed by bars and clubs, which is located in the south western part of the city center. The facts exposed as a result of his surveillance experiment turned out to be quite depressing.

"One night we counted 900 offences, mainly between the hours of 2:00am and 4:00am. The atmosphere is grim, and there is an air of lawlessness," the ombudsman told Trouw. "Scooters race through the pedestrian areas. There is a lot of shouting. Drugs are being bought. There is stealing,” he said, adding that police often do not even try to intervene.

"There is violence but no action. You can even pee on the van of a mobile [police] unit and the driver won't say anything,” Zuurmond said. He also described the situation at the square at night as “intolerable lack of authority.”

The notorious Red Light district streets, which are “packed” with crowds of revelers in the evenings, also witness a high crime rate. Human trafficking has become a particular source of concern for the local authorities as it even prompted the municipality to launch a special project aimed at combating the issue as well as reducing the overall crime rate. However, all the efforts have been largely to no avail so far, the paper reports, citing the assessment made by the Amsterdam city court.

The problems deepen as they continue to spread across the city, Zuurmond warned. He particularly drew attention to the fact that some 2,000 illegal taxis are now roaming the streets at nights for fares. The city also has a flourishing black market with racketeers dealing with wads of cash. “Shadowy money is everywhere in the city center,” the ombudsman said.

The tense situation is partly a result of government policy, Zuurmond explained. “The government has deliberately stimulated tourism after the economic crisis, but [it] has forgotten to… take additional [security] measures.”

According to Dutch media, the problem that currently plagues the capital of the Netherlands might in fact be part of a larger issue. In the Netherlands, there are around 160,000 people who have been “irrevocably convicted” but have managed to avoid punishment, Trouw reports, citing data provided by the municipality of Amsterdam.

According to the ministry of justice, more than 12,000 out of the 160,000 have to serve a custodial sentence. About 10 percent of such convicts fleeing justice reportedly reside in Amsterdam, where they can actually apply for a new passport virtually without any background checks. As a result, hundreds of alleged “street criminals” just “disappear.”

Amsterdam welcomes 18 million tourists every year – more than the total population of the Netherlands. The city has recently been hit by a string of violent incidents. In late June, a motorcycle gang member was arrested after he allegedly fired an anti-tank missile at an office building which houses a magazine publisher in Amsterdam. Just days later, a van crashed into the head office of daily newspaper De Telegraaf in the Dutch capital, in what police believe was a deliberate attack. Neither incident resulted in casualties.

Last week, a Briton was shot in the head outside a café in Amsterdam by a fellow national in what police described as a gang feud. An international manhunt was launched after the incident. The shooting victim remains in the hospital in stable condition.

And no-one dare say the word 'migrants' in relation to the rocketing crime rates.

Dutch Lies Over Putin’s ‘Aggression’ Expose NATO War Agenda

By finian cunningham 

Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte was this week forced to bear a parliamentary vote of no confidence after his foreign minister finally came clean over a dangerous lie he has been telling for two years concerning Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Halbe Zijlstra quit in shame on Monday as the country’s foreign minister after admitting that a story he had peddled about personally hearing Putin plotting to create a “greater Russia” was false. That then forced premier Rutte to endure a “no confidence” motion from parliamentarians. In the end, Rutte survived the vote. If a majority had voted against his leadership, his coalition government may have collapsed.

But the deep damage done to the Dutch authorities will not be so easily repaired by Rutte’s survival as premier. What has been exposed this week is a senior member of government recklessly telling bare-faced lies in an attempt to slander Russia, poison international relations, and ratchet up already dangerous geopolitical tensions.

Zijlstra had claimed two years ago, in 2016, that he had personally witnessed Russian leader Vladimir Putin boasting about creating a “greater Russia” which, it is claimed, would incorporate Ukraine, the Baltic states, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The newly resigned Dutch top diplomat claimed he heard Putin making the remarks while present with others at the Russian leader’s dacha (summer house) back in 2006.

This week, Zijlstra finally came clean and admitted before parliament that he hadn't in fact been present at the alleged gathering. He still maintains, however, that a confidante who was among the guests at Putin’s dacha informed him of the alleged “greater Russia” plan. But how can we now trust the word of a self-confessed liar?

Zijlstra’s boss, Prime Minister Rutte, also sought to downplay the debacle, claiming that his foreign minister had made “a big mistake” – but that “lying was not a deadly sin.”

Unless it starts a war - then it's pretty deadly!

Rutte is in for a rude awakening due to his complacent thinking. For indeed his government has been caught telling a very grave lie whose ramifications concern issues of war and peace in Europe.

Disgraced former minister Zijlstra stands accused of gross distortion of Russia’s foreign policy.

Since the US and European-backed illegal coup in Ukraine in early 2014, geopolitical reality has been turned upside-down. American and European corporate media have peddled relentless anti-Russia propaganda accusing Moscow of “aggression” and “expansionism” in Europe.

This torrent of Russophobia spewed out by Washington, the Pentagon, NATO, and the European Union has created the worst crisis in relations with Russia since the Cold War ended nearly three decades ago. There are real fears that the mounting crisis could escalate into an all-out war involving nuclear powers.

Zijlstra’s offense therefore is not merely a “mistaken” lie. His flagrant public distortion has contributed directly to the grave deterioration in geopolitical relations. One could even argue such reprehensible remarks amount to incitement of war, which is a cardinal crime under Nuremberg legal principles.

Lamentably, the mendacious senior Dutch politician is not an isolated case. Recall how former Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski was caught out telling similar defamatory lies about Russia in 2014.

Sikorski, who has been an ardent supporter of NATO force build-up against Russia, reportedly claimed that he personally overheard Vladimir Putin in 2008 plotting to annex Ukrainian territory in a covert plot. Sikorski claimed that he heard Putin propositioning then Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk with a carve-up deal of Ukraine between Poland and Russia.

Sikorski was obliged to swiftly retract the claims published in US media, and awkwardly admitting that he was not present at the alleged meeting with Putin, and that his quoted remarks were meant as a “surreal joke.”

But, again, this is no joke or mistake. It is deadly serious disinformation by senior government officials, which is recklessly inciting war tensions with Russia. Sikorski is prominently associated with pro-NATO think-tanks like the hawkish American Enterprise Institute. He is married to Anne Applebaum who makes a living from writing anti-Russian screeds for news outlets like the Washington Post.

Zijlstra and Sikorski join the ranks of Russophobia regurgitated by other European foreign ministers like Britain’s Boris Johnson who issued the outlandish claim earlier this year that Russia is “targeting” British infrastructure; or French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian who has impugned Russia for chemical weapons use in Syria – only for the French President Emmanuel Macron to admit this week that his government has actually no evidence about the use of such weapons in Syria.

Macron has made his own contribution to Russophobia by leveling unsubstantiated allegations that his presidential election campaign last year was “hacked” by Kremlin agents. He has since banned Russian news media from attending his press conferences.

All these senior government figures are irresponsibly fueling a climate of demonization against Russia which is compounding other unhinged claims made by politicians in Washington and the Baltic states. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, for example, recently claimed that Russian Iskander missiles based on Russian sovereign territory of Kaliningrad were targeting half of Europe, an alarmist claim which has been amplified by US secretary of defense James Mattis in the Pentagon’s recent Nuclear Posture Review.

The climate of hysteria – based on false, fevered official claims – is militating against normal political and diplomatic relations, which is, in turn, exacerbating the war in Ukraine and leading to wider war tensions with Russia across Europe.

A good question is why the ousted Dutch minister decided to own up this week to his lies about Putin.

The answer may be related to the bigger credibility crisis of the Dutch government and its NATO allies with regard to the whole Russophobia propaganda war.

Next month, the Netherlands is to hold a national referendum on extending powers of Dutch state intelligence to monitor public electronic communications. To convince the Dutch public to vote for more snooping powers, the authorities are relying on the hackneyed claims about Russian “meddling” and “interference”.

It seems significant that Dutch media reported last month that the country’s secret services allegedly “hacked into” Russian state hackers who were allegedly penetrating the American Democratic party’s databases during the US presidential elections back in 2015-2016. As usual, no evidence was provided to support the claims. We know from other credible reports that the Democratic party was quite possibly not hacked at all, but rather was leaked from inside by a Democrat staffer. So the Dutch intel story smearing Russia is highly dubious.

But it seems that the purported “good deed” performed by the Dutch intelligence services was pitched in the media as a way to ingratiate bona fides with the Netherlands public. The aim being to dispose the public toward voting in the referendum next month to give the Dutch state more intrusive powers over citizens to “protect” them from “nefarious Russians”.

Now, if the Dutch minister had held on to his office any longer there was a risk that his lies may have become public embarrassingly close to the March referendum, which could have resulted in the public rejecting the authorities’ desire for more snooping powers.

Perhaps then the decision was taken in high office for the minister to take the fall now in order to get rid sooner of an embarrassing story concerning his lies over Russia.

Whatever the explanation about the timing, the admission of Dutch government lying about Russian aggression in Europe is nevertheless an illuminating and appalling insight into how Russophobia and war is being fomented by the US and its European NATO allies.

Abominably, European government officials are willing to risk plunging millions of citizens into a war with Russia based on lies and warped, self-serving prejudices.

Dutch Head to Polls Amid Tense Immigration Policy Debate

Do they even know what Rutte did? 

© Cris Toala Olivares / Reuters

Up to 13 million Dutch voters are expected to head to the polls on Wednesday to elect 150 members of the lower house of parliament in a symbolic Euroscepticism showdown that seems to have split society along the immigration policy divide.

Some 28 parties are competing in the election which is largely viewed as a face-off between ultranationalist Geert Wilders and the current Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Under the proportional representation system, any party who receives more than 0.67 percent of the vote, will pass the mandated threshold and get at least one seat. 

Following the latest round of televised debates on Tuesday night in which representatives of 13 parties competed, Prime Minister Rutte’s People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is leading Wilder’s Party for Freedom (PVV) by a small margin.

The Dutch Peilingwijzer website which tracks down six polling outlets says that VVD will likely gain between 24-28 seats, versus 19-22 that will most likely go to PVV. The Christian Democratic Appeal Party (CDA) and its leader Sybrand Buma are predicted to gain between 19-21 seats. 

At least four other parties are likely to gain more than 10 seats. These include the centrist D66, Green-Left, the Socialist Party and the social democrat Labour Party (PvdA). Whichever party can secure the majority 76 seats in parliament, either on its own or through a coalition, will form the new Dutch government and choose the Prime Minister.

Merkel and Rutte make a secret deal with Turkey promising to take in hundreds of thousands of migrants even if the rest of the EU refuses. Turkey gets to pick the refugees going into Europe and are sending the sick and uneducated while keeping the educated and healthy in Turkey.

Do the Dutch actually know this?

Rutte who took on Wilders in a heated debate on Monday night has made it clear that his party will not work with the PVV leader.

“Not even in a tolerance structure – no, never, no,” Rutte said, dismissing the possibility of forming a coalition with Wilders.

Rutte is urging voters to back him so that he continue his political course and focus on preserving the Dutch economic recovery and its place in the European Union.

Wilders remains hopeful that he will be able to persuade voters to side with the global anti-establishment trend reinvigorated by the Brexit referendum and the victory of Donald Trump in the US.

Wilders has said that Netherlands’ exit from the European Union would be “the best thing that could happen to us”.

Rutte instead argued that the so-called Nexit would cost 1.5 million jobs and create “chaos”.

Wilders, on the other hand, told the voters that after a Nexit, the Dutch would become the “master of our own country again”.

As part of his controversial agenda, the 53-year old Wilders wants to close Islamic schools and asylum centers. In addition, Wilders wants to shut down borders with a blanket ban on migrants from Muslim countries. The ultra-conservative also wants the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands.

During the final debate, Wilders engaged in an intense face-off with PvdA party leader Lodewijk Asscher over the issue of immigration.

The issue and debate around foreigners in the Netherlands has heightened in recent days following the diplomatic row and weekend rioting over the barring of the Turkish family minister from entering the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam.

“If you want to tackle crime you should deport those foreigners who rape, commit a crime and laugh at our police,” Wilders said. “The Netherlands is not for everyone, the Netherlands is for the Dutch.” 

Some of Wilder's supporters told RT ahead of the election that the Party for Freedom is shaping the new political agenda for the Netherlands.

“Wilders is a person who notices the frustration, what is brewing and annoying people and he expresses it. Other parties are now listening as well,” Wim Keizer a local politician in Volendam told RT.

While the PVV's support is strong, Wilders is unlikely to be able to form the next government even if he wins the popular vote, as all mainstream parties have ruled out working with him.

Rest assured, Holland, your government will continue to ensure that the Netherlands completes its exercise in cultural suicide! How can so many be so blind?

Merkel, Rutte Agreed Refugee Quota in Deal with Turkey, Did Not Tell Other EU Leaders

A bad deal that, in the end, was probably completely unnecessary

Merkel, Rutte agreed refugee quota in deal with Turkey, did not tell other EU leaders – report

Angela Merkel, Ahmet Davutoglu, Mark Rutte © Hakan Goktepe / AFP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte secretly agreed to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees from Turkey each year as part of an EU-Turkey deal but did not inform other EU leaders, a book by a German journalist says.

The two European leaders met with then Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to discuss the details of the EU-Turkey refugee deal in private the night before the EU-Turkey summit in March 2016. The details of the secret trilateral meet where the deal was struck, has been revealed in a new book, 'Driven by Events: Merkel’s Refugee Policy,' by Robin Alexander, a journalist with Die Welt.

During the meeting, Merkel, and Rutte, who held the rotating EU presidency at that time as the Dutch PM, agreed on all the major provisions of the future EU-Turkey agreement which was later presented at the summit as a spontaneous Turkish initiative.

In particular, they gave consent to the idea of Europe taking between 150,000 and 250,000 Syrian refugees from Turkey each year even after the massive inflow of asylum seekers and migrants to Europe would have subsided and the principle, under which the EU should accept one Syrian refugee for each asylum seeker returned from Greece to Turkey, would not work anymore.

However, this particular 'deal' never made into the official text of the agreement and remains a “gentleman’s agreement” between Merkel, Rutte and Turkish authorities, Alexander writes in his report, citing unnamed officials that “were directly involved in the negotiations” between the three leaders on the night before the summit.

This part of the agreement has never been revealed, neither to the other EU leaders nor to the German public, the journalists say in his book. He adds that the official text of the EU-Turkey deal was instead appended with wording saying that “as soon as chaotic illegal border crossings between Turkey and the EU would come to an end or at least their numbers would significantly and consistently fall, a regulation envisaging voluntary admission [of refugees by the EU from the Turkish territory] will come into force.”

Germany, Netherlands gamble

This wording was then approved by all EU leaders at the summit in March 2016. However, it also envisaged voluntary participation of the EU countries in this admission program, Alexander says, explaining why Merkel was so persistent in imposing a mandatory refugee quota on other European countries – in case all other EU members refused to accept refugees from Turkey; Germany and the Netherlands would have to deal with all of them on their own.

Another big concession made by Merkel and Rutte is that it was the Turks who in the end decided who would be sent to Europe within the framework of the agreed refugee quota system.

Wondering why Germany and the Netherlands are in a diplomatic row with Turkey?

Under the agreed deal, the Turkish interior ministry was entrusted with compiling the lists of refugees it believed should be sent to Europe, with the list later to be reviewed by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

According to Alexander, “people with a college or university degree or skilled professionals never made it into those lists.” “Even healthy [people] were few in the trains going to Europe: the Turks allowed exclusively seriously injured or traumatized refugees to resettle,” he says.

OMG! Merkel and Rutte had no choice but to go along with that or come clean. We know the likelihood of a politician coming clean is extremely remote. The costs of this deal in German and Dutch society will be absolutely staggering! Is it any wonder why Germany and the Netherlands are at diplomatic odds with Turkey right now.

The unnecessary solution

The author writes that the EU-Turkey deal was designed to become not only an alternative to the simple closure of the so-called Balkan Route asylum seekers used to get to Europe but also a “more extensive solution” to the refugee crisis.

However, “in Brussels, Merkel fought not for the open or closed borders but for maintaining her political narrative,” Alexander says, adding that her policy was based on the concepts of a “humanitarian imperative” and a “perceived lack of options” pointing to the notion that “borders cannot be closed anymore nowadays.”

The journalist also writes that Merkel later claimed that Germany decided to open its borders and take in a significant proportion of refugees to give the EU time to develop a common solution that would eventually replace the EU-Turkey deal. She did not want the whole situation and her policy to be made obsolete by a simple closure of the Balkan Route.

However, the author assumes in his book that the deal was not as necessary as it seemed.

“The next day after the summit, on March 9, 2016, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia decided to let in only those refugees, who had credible ID papers and wanted to apply for asylum in one of those countries,” thus effectively closing the Balkan Route, he says in his book, adding that “on March 10, the Austrian border crossing in Spielfeld [bordering Slovenia] reported no [more] refugees [trying to cross the border].”

The EU-Turkey deal came into force 11 days later.

Earlier, another report by Die Welt citing Alexander’s book said that, in 2015, Merkel decided to keep the German borders open as she feared that images of violence would make her government unpopular, although she was on the verge of closing the borders instead of welcoming refugees.

No Talking Turkey in Rotterdam - Major Diplomatic Incident

Turkish minister blocked by Dutch police from entering Rotterdam Consulate - reports

Turkish minister blocked by Dutch police from entering Rotterdam Consulate - reports

Police block off the street outside the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam © Yves Herman / Reuters

Turkey's Family Affairs Minister has been blocked by Dutch police from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam, Netherlands, according to broadcaster NOS News.

The news outlet posted footage purportedly showing the minister, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, surrounded by police after she stepped out of her car.

Anadolu reports that the Dutch police also blocked its correspondents along with reporters from Turkey’s TRT channel, who were with the minister to cover her visit.

Earlier there were reports that the minister was arrested by they were later dismissed.

Channels CNN Turk and NTV earlier reported that the convoy of Turkey's family minister was stopped at the Netherlands border.

The incident involving the Turkish family minister comes just hours after Dutch authorities revoked authorization for the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s flight, hours after he had warned that Turkey would retaliate if his visit was canceled.

Earlier, he insisted that he would go ahead with his visit to Rotterdam even if local Dutch authorities did not agree to his taking part in a rally promoting a change in Turkey’s constitution.

Cavusoglu intended to campaign at the rally to drum up votes in favor of an April referendum that would give the Turkish president new powers, but Rotterdam’s mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, banned the Turkish official from speaking in public in the city late Friday.

Just moments ago it was made known that the Dutch embassy and consulate in Turkey have been closed off for security reasons, according to Reuters citing Turkish foreign ministry sources.

Another source reports: The street where the consulate building is located (the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam) has been closed right after Kaya announced she was going to hold a meeting to address Turkish citizens for the upcoming referendum.

The family minister's vehicle was intercepted by Dutch police while entering the country.

Let's try and unpack this information to attempt to get at what is really going on here. First - The Turkish FM was refused permission to enter the Netherlands to speak at a rally in support of the constitutional changes to be voted on in Turkey next month. Those changes mean more power for Erdogan and are a big step in his quest for Caliph-like powers. Talk of the possibility of him being refused led the FM to threaten retaliation if it occurred. Nevertheless, it occurred. 

Meanwhile, Turkey's Family Affairs Minister was in Rotterdam. It is not clear what she was told when she entered the country it appears she was prevented from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam to prevent her from holding a meeting or making a statement regarding the referendum. 

Another factor may be that the mayor of Rotterdam is named Ahmed Aboutaleb - good Dutch name! Aboutaleb is a Muslim from Morocco and is of Berber descent. That probably does not factor into the equation but one never knows in the complex and competitive world of Islam.

To summarize, The Netherlands strongly opposes Edrogan's move to increase his own power and they are willing to trash diplomatic relations with Turkey to take a stand against him. I like it!

Dutch Parliament Approves Partial Ban on Full-Face Veils

Invisible women not allowed in many places in

Netherlands after new law passed

    © AFP PHOTO / ANP PHOTO / Filer Jerry Lampen | A woman wearing a burqa walks in The Hague 

by NEWS WIRES

The Dutch parliament voted on Tuesday to ban face veils in some public places, a law the government said was essential for security but which opponents said pandered to anti-Muslim sentiment.

The law, passed by the lower house but still requiring the senate's approval, bans veils and other items that hide the face such as ski masks and helmets, in places where identifying the wearer is considered essential, including government buildings, public transport, schools and hospitals.

Few women in the Netherlands wear face veils, but a ban has long been a demand of Geert Wilders' anti-Islam opposition Freedom Party which is leading in polls ahead of elections in March.

Full and partial face veils such as burqas and niqabs divide opinion in Europe, setting religious freedom advocates against secularists and those who say that the garments are culturally alien or a symbol of the oppression of women.

France and Belgium have completely banned wearing face veils in public and some other European countries have local or regional restrictions. Violating the Dutch law would incur a fine of 405 euros ($430).

"Everyone has the right to dress as he or she wishes," the government said in a statement announcing the law.

"That freedom is limited only where it is essential for people to see each other, for example to ensure good service or security."

Opponents of the law have accused center-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte of pandering to the anti-Muslim vote in a bid not to be outflanked by Wilders.

Long seen as one of Europe's most tolerant countries, the Netherlands has seen racial tensions mount since the turn of the century, with the 2006 murder of controversial film-maker Theo van Gogh by an Islamist militant widely considered a turning point.

(REUTERS)

Favourite to be Next Dutch PM Vows to Ban the Koran and Close All Mosques

Basically, Wilders wants to rid the Netherlands of Islam altogether. This might be 

the only strategy that will ensure the survival of European culture. Other countries 

will come to realize this, but it may be too late when they do.

The promise will not come without great resistance from Muslims, short-sighted leftists,

courts, and from the EU. It will be tantamount to a declaration of war which will radicalize more

Muslims and result in extraordinary chaos in the streets. But if Europe is going to survive,

it has to happen and the sooner the better. It will not get easier as Muslim populations increase.

The front-runner to become the next Dutch Prime Minister has vowed to ban the Koran and to close all mosques in the country.

By TOM PARFITT


Geert Wilders has vowed to ban the Koran if he becomes Dutch PM - Getty

Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), called for the total "de-Islamification" in a controversial manifesto posted online.

The far-right MP, who has previously compared the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, also vowed to put an end to immigration from Islamic countries.

He would also close all Islamic schools and asylum centres, and ban Muslim women from wearing the headscarf in public, if elected prime minister next year.

If the current levels of immigration continue for just a few more decades, all women will be wearing headscarves in public and burkinis will be the minimum requirement on beaches. This will happen in the lifespan of our children and grandchildren.

Mr Wilders unveiled the manifesto ahead of the Netherlands' parliamentarian elections in March.

The PVV currently leads the pack in almost every opinion poll amid growing anger at the Dutch government’s handling of the refugee crisis.

It is on course to take 35 seats in the 150-seat Dutch Parliament, about 10 seats more than the ruling Liberal party, led by prime minister Mark Rutte.

Mr Wilders also promised to do all he can to hold a referendum on Netherlands' membership of the EU following June's historic Brexit vote.

Sybrand van Haersma Buma, leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party, branded Mr Wilders' plans "utterly bizarre and unbelievable".

He added: "The programme will further polarise Dutch society."

Mr Wilders last month said he was "proud" of his tough stance on Islam after claiming the Netherlands "can't take any more" refugees from Syria and Iraq.

The outspoken leader added: "I also don't have a problem with people from Slovakia and Lithuania. But I do have a problem with immigration from Islamic countries.

"The EU leaves us no freedom to determine our own immigration and asylum laws. That's why leaving the EU is necessary."


The MP has said the Netherlands 'can't take any more' refugees - Getty

The PVV was unofficially part of the first Rutte cabinet from October 2010 until November 2012.

It gave critical parliamentarian support to help the Liberal and CDA coalition get a majority in the House of Representatives.

But the PVV could struggle to form a coalition if it wins next year's election because other parties are currently reluctant to work with Mr Wilders.

The Netherlands Could be the First Country to Ban Gas, Diesel Vehicles

The Netherlands are looking to ban gas- and diesel-powered cars in the near future. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

By Nicole Mortillaro Science and Weather Reporter Global News

Gas-powered vehicles could be a thing of the past if Dutch politicians have their way.

A proposal has been put forth by the Netherlands’ Labour Party to ban gas- and diesel-powered cars by 2025.

John Vos, a member of the Labour Party, told the Yale Climate Connection, “We need to phase out CO2 emissions and we need to change our pattern of using fossil fuels if we want to save the Earth.”

While I totally agree with switching to a cleaner form of propulsion and getting out from under the gouging of oil companies, this gesture is unlikely to make any measurable difference in the global temperature. 

Unfortunately this report makes no mention of trucks or tourists; presumably they won't turn you away at the border because your Audi is petrol-powered.

But in a small, flat country like the Netherlands, the idea might just work. And, it might catch on in many other countries after which the global temperature change may almost be measurable. But I doubt it.

While the proposal may sound like an ambitious endeavour, the country isn’t the only one looking for such a ban: India — a country with stifling air pollution — as well as Norway, Germany and Austria are making similar proposals.

However, it’s the Netherlands that has made the biggest advance. The proposal has already passed through the lower parliament and could become law soon.

Though the country has about 20,000 charging stations, Vos said that more will have to be installed. Another challenge before the country can impose an all-out ban, is making electric and hydrogen cars more affordable.


Electric Cars with the Most Range
Year, Make, Model
Electric Range
MSRP

2016 Tesla Model X 4dr SUV Exterior
220 miles
$$$$$ $83,000

2016 Kia Soul EV Electric Wagon
90 miles
$$$$$ $31,950

2016 FIAT 500e Electric 2-door Hatchback
87 miles
$$$$$ $31,800

2016 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive Electric 4-door Hatchback
87 miles
$$$$$ $41,450

2016 Nissan Leaf Electric 4-door Hatchback
84 miles
$$$$$ $29,010

2016 Volkswagen e-Golf Electric 4-door Hatchback
83 miles
$$$$$ $28,995

2016 Chevrolet Spark EV Electric 4-door Hatchback
82 miles
$$$$$ $25,120

2016 BMW i3 Electric 4-door Hatchback
80 miles
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2016 Ford Focus Electric 4-door Hatchback
76 miles
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2016 smart fortwo Electric 2-door Hatchback
68 miles
$$$$$ $25,000

Bulgaria Becomes Third Country to Ban the Burqa

Invisible women not allowed in Bulgaria

MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images

by DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS

The Bulgarian Parliament has overwhelmingly given the green light to a proposed ban on the wearing of burqas in the country, with only eight Members of Parliament voting against it.

The bill’s approval means that Bulgaria is on track to becoming the third European country, after France and the Netherlands, to ban clothing that covers the face in public places. Women who defy the ban will be fined 200 leva (£80) for the first offence, increasing to 1,500 leva and the cancelling of social benefits for subsequent offences, the Sofia Globe has reported.

In addition, those who persuade others to wear the veil will be fined 5,000 leva and face up to three years in prison, while for those who persuade minors to wear the veil the penalties are increased to 10,000 leva and a maximum of five years’ jail time.

The bill was tabled by the Patriotic Front (PF), who have already been instrumental in getting local bans put in place. The text makes it clear that the bill is aimed at “the aggressive enforcement of limits to personal freedom and human dignity of the women,” particularly in communities where “radical Islam exists,” reports Balkan Insight.

It was supported by the majority of the National Assembly’s 240 members, while the eight votes against came from Parliamentarians representing the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), and Turkish-rights party DOST. There were no abstentions.

The majority was not unexpected, however, as the bill was widely supported during the committee stages, with only the MRF putting up any meaningful opposition.

During the debate Lyutvi Mestan, the leader of DOST and former chair of the MRF called the bill “comic and pathetic”. MRF member Tuncher Kardjaliev, said the draft law addressed an artificial problem and slammed it as “pure populism”. And his MRF colleague Hamid Hamid said there was no need for a ban as the garment is only worn by a small number of Roma Salafists in the city of Pazardjik.

But Julian Angelov from the PF hit back: “The fact that we have 20 or 100 women with burqas does not mean that we should wait for them to become 150,000.”

The ban will cover Bulgarian citizens, migrants, and temporary residents, and applies to all public areas including parks, public and private transport, schools and gardens, but will not apply to private homes or places of worship. Exceptions may be made for medical or professional reasons, and during sporting and cultural events.

Muslims account for about 12 per cent of Bulgaria’s population, and mostly belong to a centuries old population made up mostly of ethnic Turks, among which the wearing of the veil is not common. But the garment has gained popularity with Roma Salafists living mostly in the central city of Pazardjik.

The city already has a regional ban, put in place in April to diffuse tension between communities and to boost security following the terrorist attacks on Paris and Brussels.

“I am tired to hear that Pazardjik is the town of the burqas. We want to say aloud that we are not that, but a town of responsible people and we will be associated with other achievements,” Mayor Todor Popov told national radio at the time, according to the Telegraph.

Hear Someone Insult Erdogan? Report It To Us, Says Turkish Consulate in the Netherlands

By Adam Taylor Washington Post

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, listens to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a joint news conference in Ankara on April 16. Rouhani is in Turkish capital for a one-day official visit. (Burhan Ozbilici/AP)

What should someone in the Netherlands do if someone says something "derogatory" or "defamatory" about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan? According to an email sent out by Ankara's consulate in Rotterdam, Turkish organizations in the country should write in to report the insult.

This email, uncovered by Dutch news organizations Thursday, has sparked anger in the Netherlands, with the Dutch prime minister demanding an explanation from Turkish authorities. To Turkey's critics, the message seems to show that Erdogan, long accused of cracking down on dissent domestically, was now abusing antiquated European laws in a bid to silence his international critics.

"I am surprised," Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters in Germany during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "It's not clear what the Turkish government aims to achieve with this action."

The news of the email comes less than a week after Merkel herself announced that she would allow Jan Boehmermann, a German comedian and writer known for his acerbic style, to be prosecuted for a poem he had read on television about Erdogan. Boehmermann's poem was designed to crudely mock the Turkish president, accusing him of sex with goats and saying that Erdogan loved to "repress minorities, kick Kurds and beat Christians while watching child porn."

According to German prosecutors, at least 20 "private individuals" had filed complaints against Boehmermann after his poem aired on state broadcaster ZDF. At the request of the Turkish government, Boehmermann will now be prosecuted under section 103 of the German penal code, a section that decrees "whosoever insults a foreign head of state ... shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine."

Merkel has suggested that while her government will now work to change the law to remove this section, she had to respect the law as it stood. The Netherlands has similar "lèse-majesté" laws against insulting foreign heads of states, which is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison, though Dutch lawmakers are now working to remove them. Within Turkey, critics of the government have complained that since becoming president in 2014, Erdogan has abused a law that bars insults to the president, with almost 2,000 cases opened in less than two years.

While these cases have caused controversy, they also enjoy support from many in Turkey: One Turkish man facing charges for allegedly assaulting his fiancee recently suggested that the assault was sparked by his partner's insult to the Turkish president. According to Hurriyet Daily News, the man's fiancee was called by police to testify about the alleged insult to Erdogan, which she denied making.

The Turkish Embassy in the Netherlands has attempted to downplay the controversy about the recent email, suggesting that the message was being misunderstood and that they only wanted organizations to email the consulate to report racism or hate speech. According to a translation from the BBC, the letter had read: "We ask urgently for the names and written comments of people who have given derogatory, disparaging, hateful and defamatory statements against the Turkish president, Turkey and Turkish society in general."

There are about 400,000 people with Turkish origin in the Netherlands, and representatives of Turkish opposition parties say that critics of Erdogan have expressed concern that they could be targeted. On Twitter, Sadet Karabulut, a Dutch politician of Kurdish descent, dubbed the controversy a sign of "Erdogan's long arm in the Netherlands."

I hope Canada doesn't have such a law; I could be in big trouble. Erdogan is a very ambitious egomaniac; and that's the nicest thing I can say about him.

5 Most Islamophobic Rants by Geert Wilders as His 'Inciting Hatred' Trial Begins

Islamophobic rants, or truth, or both?

Wilders appeared in court with his trademark peroxide blonde hair. © Michael Kooren / Reuters

The trial of right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders started Friday for inciting hatred and discrimination against the Dutch Moroccan minority.

Wilders denies any wrongdoing, saying comments he made, which included referring to Morrocans as “scum”, are protected by his right to free speech.

Prosecutors said the case pits that right versus the right to be free from discrimination, according to Reuters.

“Freedom of expression is not absolute, it is paired with obligations and responsibilities, the responsibility not to set groups of people against each other,” said lead prosecutor Wouter Bos.

Consequently, there is no room for the truth when speaking about Islam. If you can't express the truth because someone might be offended, or for fears of starting a riot, then your society is based on a sham, and when the truth finally comes out, then you will see rioting.

The controversial leader of the Party for Freedom (PPV) appeared relaxed in court with his famous ‘bottle blonde’ hair on display, posing for photographs before proceedings began.

He says the trial is a politically-motivated attempt to uproot the PPV, which has become the most popular party in opinion polls with an election expected in the Netherlands next year.

Long before Donald Trump started scoring political points on the backs of Muslims, Wilders made a name for himself as an outrageous and offensive orator.

Here are five of his most anti-Muslim rants, in no particular (new world) order.

“We’ll take care of that”
Wilders made repeated calls for “fewer Moroccans” while campaigning during the 2014 election, including at a televised rally where he told supporters who cheered him on that “we’ll take care of that.” Moroccans account for two percent of the country’s population.

Of course, they can't take care of anything unless they get elected in which case they will have popular support for taking care of that. What the, will you haul half the electorate into court for inciting hatred?


“Islam is not a religion, it's an ideology, the ideology of a retarded culture”
Wilders came out with this line, just in case you weren’t already sure where he stood on the issue, while promoting his controversial film "Fitna" in the Guardian in 2008. The next year, he was briefly blocked from entering the UK until he won an appeal.

Retarded would not be my choice of words; I would probably choose something stronger. But the idea of Islam as an ideology is quite popular. Wilders certainly didn't invent it.


“Our Judeo-Christian culture is far superior to the Islamic one. I can give you a million reasons. But here is an important one. We have got humor and they don't.”
Wilders made this not-so-hilarious comments when speaking at last year's event in Texas featured cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. Two gunmen with links to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) were killed by police after they tried to ambush the event, while their accomplice was convicted on terror charges this week.

Some of the things that pass for humour in our Judeo-Christian culture certainly doesn't support the argument that it is superior to Islam. That Muslim humour is not easily found is a fact. They certainly seem to have problems laughing at themselves. And when it comes the Mohammed or the Quran, well, look out.


“The Koran is a fascist book which incites violence. That is why this book, just like "Mein Kampf", must be banned.”
Wilders went on trial in 2011 for inciting hatred against Muslims using quotes like the above and for calling for Muslim criminals to be stripped of Dutch nationality and deported. He was acquitted after a judge decided that the target was a religion and not a race.

If you disagree with that statement it is because you know little or nothing of the Quran. In Islam, Mohammed is the model just as Jesus is the model for Christians. But Jesus didn't commit genocide, mass murder, pedophilia, polygamy, or enslavement. Nor did He order His son to divorce his wife so that He could marry her. Mohammed did all these things under the pretext that it was Allah's will. Jesus gave us a sample of God's will and it's nothing like what Mohammed did.


“In my fight for freedom and against the 'Islamization' of the Netherlands, I will never let anyone silence me. No matter the cost, no matter by whom, whatever the consequences may be.”
Wilders' PPV party is gaining momentum with those who oppose him, but support absolute free speech. Wilders backers including members of the neo-Nazi movement Pegida, who demonstrated outside the courtroom with some wearing pigs ears in an attempt to taunt Muslims for not eating pork.

If you are not with Geert Wilders, you are for the Islamization of the Netherlands, even if unwittingly. When Muslim enter a country in great numbers they take it over eventually. Then your little Dutch girls will be married while still children, they will wear hijabs, they will not be allowed out in public alone or they will be justifiably raped. And if they get pregnant because of the rape, they will have the choice of marrying the rapist, or one of them, or going to jail.

Geert Wilders can see that train coming; bleeding heart liberals cannot.