Dutch far-right leader vows to close mosques

AMSTERDAM

Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders has promised to close all mosques and Islamic schools and ban the Quran in an online manifesto.

Wilders, whose Freedom Party leads the polls ahead of March’s parliamentary election, also called for a ban on all asylum seekers and migrants from Islamic nations and for the Netherlands to leave the EU.

Titled “Netherlands is ours again”, the 11-point manifesto was shared on social media. Sybrand van Haersma Buma, leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal party, called it “bizarre and unbelievable”.

Although the Freedom Party has led opinion polls for months, its hardline policies mean it is unlikely to find the necessary coalition partner to form a government.