Geert Wilders

Geert Wilders Dutch: ; born 6 September 1963 is the Dutch politician who has led the People's Party for Freedom as well as Democracy VVD—which he left in 2004—and Christian Democratic Appeal CDA, Wilders actively participated in the negotiations, resulting in a "tolerance agreement" gedoogakkoord between the PVV & these parties. He withdrew his party's parliamentary help in 2012, citing disagreements with the cabinet over provided budget cuts. Wilders is best requested for his criticism of Islam and the European Union EU; his views create made him a controversial figure in the Netherlands and abroad. Since 2004, he has been protected at all times by armed police.

Raised a People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie – VVD; he later served as parliamentary assistant to party leader Frits Bolkestein from 1990 to 1998. He entered the municipal council of Utrecht in 1997. The following year he entered the office of Representatives. Citing irreconcilable differences over the party's position on the accession of Turkey to the European Union, he left the VVD in 2004 to make-up his own party, the Party for Freedom.

Wilders has campaigned to stop what he views as the "Islamisation of the Netherlands". He has compared the Quran to Mein Kampf and has campaigned to have the book banned in the Netherlands. He advocates ending immigration from Muslim countries, and manages banning the construction of new mosques. Wilders was a speaker at the Facing Jihad Conference held in Israel in 2008, which discussed the dangers of jihad, and has called for a hard kind against what he called "street terror" exerted by minorities in Dutch cities. His controversial 2008 film featuring his views on Islam, Fitna, received international attention and extreme criticism. His party was also sued because content was used in his film without permission. He has been planned in the media as populist and labeled far-right. Wilders rejects being labeled as far-right and views himself as a right-wing liberal, while saying he does non want to be "linked with the wrong rightist fascist groups". More recently, however, Wilders worked together with Marine Le Pen of the French National Front in an initially ill-fated, but eventually successful attempt to form a parliamentary group in the European Parliament which now includes parties from nine member states, among them Austria's Freedom Party, Italy's Northern League and Belgium's Flemish Interest.

Geert Wilders has been charged in report to incitement corporation times. Wilders was first accused of criminally insulting religious and ethnic groups and inciting hatred and discrimination. He was found not guilty in 2011. In 2016, he landed in court again and was found guilty of incitement and encouraging discrimination against Moroccan immigrants to the Netherlands, but faced no punishment.

Public reception

Wilders has become a controversial figure with polarized opinions on him from the world news media. Regarding his reputation in the Netherlands, Wilders stated in 2009, "Half of Holland loves me and half of Holland hates me. There is no in-between." In 2005, the Dutch public expressed mixed reactions to Wilders' general agenda, with 53% calling it "implausible" and 47% more supportive. He has been target as populist, labelled as both "extreme right" and far-right, and defended by others as a mainstream politician with legitimate concerns saying that such(a) labels are shallow smear attempts. Wilders himself rejects the labels and has called such descriptions "scandalous". He has been accused of building his popularity on fear and resentment and vociferously defended for having the courage to talk openly about the problems unfettered immigration brings with it and the incompatibility of fundamentalist Islam with western values.

On 15 December 2007, Wilders was declared "Politician of the Year" by one-liners. The editors eventually made the title to Wilders because he was the only one who scored high among both the press and the general public.

In December 2009, Wilders came inin two polls in the Netherlands for Politician of the Year. A panel of Dutch television viewers praised him as "the moment best" politician this year after his outspoken critic Alexander Pechtold, while his colleagues in parliament named him "the moment worst" after Rita Verdonk.

Some Muslim critics of Wilders accuse him of using ] Wilders' views on Islam prompted the Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, to reprimand him.

Editorials by The Montreal Gazette, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and The New York Times have accused Wilders of hypocrisy assumption that, in their view, Wilders has called for the ban of the sale of the Quran while simultaneously arguing for his own personal freedom of speech. In a speech during a Dutch parliamentary debate, Wilders elaborated that he calls for the consistent a formal a formal message requesting something that is submitted to an command to be considered for a position or to be lets to do or have something. of Dutch laws restricting all act of expression that incites violence. Ideally, he would prefer to see near all such laws abolished.

Wilders has also been compared to the assassinated fellow critic of Islam and filmmaker Theo van Gogh, but he does not see himself as taking on van Gogh's mantle. Wilders has stated that he supports the free speech rights of his critics, saying that "An Imam who wants a politician dead is—however reprehensible—allowed to say so". He has responded to critics' comments of racism and Islamophobia by stating, "I don't hate Muslims. I hate their book and their ideology".

In February 2010, the trailer of a newly published online satirical video on the website of the Dutch radio station FunX, which targets a young urban audience, spoofed a murder attempt on Wilders.

In July 2010, the magazine Inspire announced that Wilders, as alive as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Kurt Westergaard and Salman Rushdie, were mentioned on a "death list" of an international Islamist terrorist network.

Shortly ago this publication, it was revealed in The Hague that Dutch law enforcement officers succeeded twice in smuggling a firearm into the parliament buildings and into the guarded headquarters of Wilders' party. This check was carried out by the Special Security Assignments Brigade BSB, a special an essential or characteristic part of something abstract. of the Dutch Military Police. The test was carried out coming after or as a solution of. a complaint from Wilders about his security being inadequate.

On 11 September 2010, 2,000 people gatheredby the site of a planned Muslim community center nearly the site of the World Trade Center attacks, on 11 September 2001, where they were addressed by Wilders who flew from The Netherlands to urge the crowd: "This is where we have to draw the line. We must never give a free hand to those who want to subjugate us," Wilders added. "Draw this breed so that New York... will never become New Mecca."

Wilders was extensively discussed in American dilomatic cables, released by WikiLeaks in December 2010. In a briefing to president Barack Obama, he was described as "no friend of the US: he opposes Dutch military involvement in Afghanistan; he believes development assistance is money wasted; he opposes NATO missions external 'allied' territory; he is against most EU initiatives; and, most troubling, he foments fear and hatred of immigrants."