Time to take Geert Wilders seriously

The Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders is feeling pretty confident after his freedom party gained ground in local elections, seeting the stage for parliamentary elecitons in June:  "Today Almere and The Hague, tomorrow the whole of the Netherlands. This is our springboard for success in parliamentary elections," Wilders said as the returns came in. "We’re ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
572764_wilders2.jpg
572764_wilders2.jpg
Dutch far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders (C) answers to journalists questions at his court hearing in Amsterdam on February 3, 2010, on charges of inciting racial hatred against Muslims. The 46-year-old lawmaker, creator of the controversial anti-Islam film Fitna, stands accused of five counts of religious insult and anti-Muslim incitement for describing Islam as a fascist religion and calling for the banning of the Koran, which he has likened to Hitler's Mein Kampf. Prosecutors had initially declined to charge Wilders, citing freedom of speech when it dismissed dozens of complaints over the film and a variety of public utterances. AFP PHOTO / ANP / MARCEL ANTONISSE ***netherlands out - belgium out*** (Photo credit should read MARCEL ANTONISSE/AFP/Getty Images)

The Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders is feeling pretty confident after his freedom party gained ground in local elections, seeting the stage for parliamentary elecitons in June: 

The Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders is feeling pretty confident after his freedom party gained ground in local elections, seeting the stage for parliamentary elecitons in June: 

"Today Almere and The Hague, tomorrow the whole of the Netherlands. This is our springboard for success in parliamentary elections," Wilders said as the returns came in.

"We’re going to take the Netherlands back from the leftist elite that coddles criminals and supports Islamization," said Wilders, who campaigned in Almere for banning Muslim women from wearing headscarves in public.

On Friday Wilder will travel to Britain — from which he was banned last year — to show his anti-Islam film Fitna in parliament at the invitation of the U.K. independence party. He also showed his film at the Capitol last year at the invitation of Sen. Jon Kyl.

The efforts to shut Wilders up — prosecuting him for hate speech, banning him from traveling, not to mention the numerous death threats he’s received — have clearly not worked. Wilders has only used them to his advantage portraying himself as a free-speech martyr. As odious as opponents may find his views, Wilders clearly has a growing constituency and  mainstream Dutch politicians are going to have to find a way to defeat his arguments in the cout of public opinion, rather than criminal courts. He’s not just a sideshow anymore.

Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

Read More On Europe

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.