The victory of Geert Wilders’s far-right PVV party in the Dutch elections has taken pollsters and politicians across Europe by surprise. But Wilders is no newcomer. For years he has attempted to woo voters with his brazenly anti-Islamic policies, hostility to migration and suspicion of Brussels.
In the election campaign, he appeared to win over voters with a slightly softer version of his familiar rhetoric, telling one interviewer he could put his views on Islam “on ice” and declaring in a debate that he wanted to be “a prime minister for all Dutch people”.
“In tone it was a very different Geert Wilders,” says Matthijs Rooduijn, associate professor of political science at Amsterdam University. “But his ideas never changed.”
Here is a reminder of some of the most high-profile – and offensive – remarks made by the man who is now within striking distance of power in the Netherlands.
On the Qur’an
The Qur’an is the Mein Kampf of a religion that aims to eliminate others … Ban that dreadful book just as Mein Kampf is banned.
In 2007, Wilders sent a letter to the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant calling the Qur’an a “fascist book”. The paper put the letter on the front page but in an editorial suggested that the PVV leader had gone too far with the comparison, which was deeply hurtful and offensive to many. This letter and other comments led to Wilders being prosecuted for inciting hatred and discrimination. He denied any wrongdoing. In 2011, he was acquitted and his comments ruled acceptable within the context of public debate.
On Islamic culture
Islam is not a religion; it’s an ideology, the ideology of a retarded culture.
Wilders said this in a 2008 interview with the Observer, at the time of creating a short film entitled Fitna, an Arabic word which means “strife”. In the film he again criticises the Qur’an as a “fascist book” and intersperses images of the September 11 attacks with quotations from the Islamic holy book. It was published on the internet and sparked violent protests in the Muslim world. In February 2009, Wilders was refused entry to Britain to screen the film on the grounds of it being a threat to public order. Wilders, who denied any wrongdoing, appealed, and a court later said the decision was wrong. The Dutch public prosecutor decided statements made in it were “hurtful and offensive to a large number of Muslims” but not punishable by law. Wilders again denied any wrongdoing. The episode subsequently became part of the 2011 case.
On Islamic dress
A head rag tax, I would like to call it.
Wilders used this offensive term to describe Muslim headscarves in the Netherlands’ annual political debates in September 2009. “A better environment begins with yourself and this is pollution of public space,” he said, calling for a ban. “Let’s do something about this symbol of oppression … the polluter pays.” Wilders suggested an annual tax of €1,000 on headscarves, provoking a scandalised reaction. His position on headscarves, and talks on Turkish accession to Europe, had led him to break with the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and set up the PVV, or “Party for Freedom”, in 2005.
On immigration
I ask you: do you want, in this city and in the Netherlands, more or fewer Moroccans?
Wilders asked this as one of a series of questions at a campaign meeting in The Hague in 2014. PVV supporters responded (as they had done to previous prompts): “Fewer, fewer, fewer”. Wilders replied: “Then we will sort that out.” In a lengthy prosecution, which he claimed was politically motivated, this speech was eventually ruled as unlawful discrimination in terms of insulting a group. It resulted in a criminal record for Wilders but he was acquitted of inciting discrimination and given no other penalty. Wilders has not retracted, or apologised for, the speech.
On Dutch democracy
There is an enormous gap between this fake parliament – because that is what it is, a fake parliament – and people at home.
Talking in the 2015 budget debates, Wilders argued for a closure of the borders and questioned Dutch democracy because MPs did not agree with him. At the time, the number of refugees seeking asylum was peaking as a result of the war in Syria and temporary asylum centres had sparked protests, with pigs’ heads dumped at a potential site in Enschede and demonstrations broken up by police. Other MPs were furious that Wilders was, in their view, undermining democracy and encouraging a lack of faith in the Netherlands’ elected leaders.
