- Wilders wants to become prime minister ‘very, very badly’ and has already started compromising, Veltman tells Anadolu

LONDON

Neither coalition partners nor Dutch society will allow far-right leader Geert Wilders to close mosques or get rid of Muslims if he becomes the new prime minister of the Netherlands, according to a retired Dutch official.

Speaking to Anadolu, Theo Veltman, who has held various managerial positions in Dutch government departments and agencies, said the Netherlands had a tradition of welcoming and “there will be a lot of resistance” to any such steps.

On the other hand, Veltman underlined that Wilders, a far-right politician whose party managed to win the most votes to secure 37 seats in the 150-seat Dutch parliament, will “keep his promise to not have so many people” enter the country as migrants.

According to the official results, Wilders’ far-right Islamophobic Party for Freedom (PVV) won37 seats, followed by GroenLinks-PvdA, a coalition led by former European Commissioner Frans Timmermans, with 25 seats.

Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) suffered significant losses as it end with 24 seats.

Two other parties, New Social Contract (NSC) and D66, got 20 and nine seats, respectively. 

‘Don’t think Muslims should be worried’

“Well, first of all, I understand that many find it shocking, because Geert Wilders has been very, very rude in many ways to specific persons, groups of persons in the Netherlands, like the Muslims, and so I can see that people are frightened by it,” Veltman said.

He pointed out that Wilders needs the support of other parties, reiterating that he does not believe Muslims will be affected.

“Wilders has to form a coalition with VVD and NSC … There is basically no other option for him as far as far as I think and many others,” he said.

“The VVD and the NSC will not allow him to close mosques, to get rid of Muslims, becausewe are Holland with a history from the 12th, 13th century of taking people in. That’s how we became who we are. So I don’t think that will happen politically speaking, and also in society there will be a lot of resistance to it.”

He said Dutch people still blame themselves for not fighting the Nazis to stop the Holocaust and that “part of history will give many people an extra stimulant to fight against any danger to Muslims or any other religion.”

“So no, I don’t think they (Muslims) should be worried … And remember, it’s only 25% that voted for Geert Wilders, 75% that didn’t vote for him,” said Veltman.

Migration and ‘Nexit’

Veltman said he is not frightened by Wilders’ election win, pointing out that the far-right figure was someone who had “always been neglected” and even ridiculed by other politicians.

“Wilders wants to become prime minister very, very badly and already he’s, as we say in Holland, ‘putting water in the wine,’ starting to compromise, starting to say, ‘Yeah, I said that all the Muslims should go but now they shouldn’t go, they should stay,’” he said.

“I think that he will keep his promise to not have so many people entering our country,” Veltman added, underlining that Wilders will aim at low migration figures.

He suggested that Wilders will not be able to force the Netherlands to leave the EU, a prospect that has already been dubbed “Nexit.”

“We all see now how disastrous the choice of Brexit is for London. In fact, it’s not very good. It’s not working out very well financially, and in many other ways. So that’s a good example for us not to go on a Nexit. Geert Wilders hasn’t got much choice,” said Veltman.

Growing support for extreme right

He urged the UK and the EU to fight against extreme right forces which are gaining power across the continent.

Veltman said he hopes that a coalition is formed to “make sure that the extreme right is not going to get more support than it already has,” and stop “the growing support for right-wing parties and the polarization with that, as is happening in America at the moment.”

“And I really, really truly believe that the only way to fight that, to turn the tables … is to make sure that people are heard,” he said.