Geert Wilders has announced his approval of a new Right leaning Dutch coalition government that will include his Freedom Party as a member.
The Freedom party has called for restrictions on immigration, tighter controls on the importation of radical Islam and an end to policies that have resulted in Muslim no go areas and increased crime in the Netherlands.
Freedom Party leader Wilders ( whose trail in Amsterdam over the movie 'Fitna' resumes Monday) said the coalition deal would prove "fantastic" for the Netherlands.
"There will be a historic policy, which will be very different on various matters," he said.
Needless to say many Dutch Muslims are not pleased by this. Farid Azarkan, from the Dutch Moroccan lobby group SMN, said that the new coalition government could lead to problems with Muslims if the Dutch accept the Freedom Party's policies.
"The gap between Muslims and non-Muslims will be widened by this and that won't be good for (immigrant) integration at a time when it's not actually going so badly," he told the Dutch news agency ANP.
Apparently the majority of the Dutch don't agree with Azarkan that Muslim integration into Dutch society is 'not actually going so badly' where they're concerned.
Like the ascension of the Right in nearby Sweden, the developments in the Dutch elections mark a major change for Europe.
(hat tip, KGS at Tundra Tabloids)
this will be an off topic comment, and/or wondering out loud, regarding the focus of ff posting.
ReplyDeleteof a new Right leaning Dutch coalition government that will include his Freedom Party as a member.
i have always been curious why Wilders is referred to as right leaning. as i understand european politics, wilders is to the left of senator john heinz-kerry. he only differs from the rest of socialist europe on matters of immigration and islam.
maybe if he were in favor limited/small gov't, and reduced taxation, they could call him a nazi.
Actually, Wilders and the Freedom Party are sort of in the middle on the issues you mention.Remember that the Dutch have a long and proud tradition of trade and mercantilism.
ReplyDeleteMany of them want a limited social democracy but agree with the great Dutch thinker and writer Leon de Winter in saying that you can have a social democracy or an immigration society, but not both.The Dutch socialists have been trying to have both for a coupe of decades.
These are words we should take to heart here in America as well.
"The gap between Muslims and non-Muslims will be widened by this
ReplyDeleteActually, the only gap that will be widened is between law abiding muslims and muslims who don't want to obey dutch law.
and that won't be good for (immigrant) integration at a time when it's not actually going so badly,"
Nonsense. These muslims had decades to "integrate", but ONLY NOW they see the election of someone who wants integration as something that "won't be good"?
I hope all european nations follow suit.
ReplyDelete"I'm thirlled to see these changes in The Netherlands and apparently Sweden as well. Good for them!! Now I sure wish we'd see simillar changes here in the United States.
ReplyDeleteI especially like the stance on immigration. A simillar approach might work here in America, however, America's problems in this area are far more severe. As such, for America the only reasonable course of action I see are a ten year moratorium on all immigration and an indefinite moratorium on immigration from Middle Eastern/Moselm countries. The 10 year moratorium on immigration will give us breathing space to fix our broken immigration system and give those aleardy here time and breathing space to assimilate into our society. In the case of Middle Eastern/Moslem countries, many of them do not like us very much. It makes little sense to invite people into your house who do not like you.