"If you don't like it here, get out of the country," says Dutch PM

Campaigning for the parliamentary elections is in full swing and VVD leader, and current Prime Minister, Mark Rutte also decided to have his say. "If you don't like it here, get out of the country, go away", he said to newspaper AD. "That's a choice you have. If you live in a country where you are continually outraged at how we deal with each other. You have the choice to go away! You do not need to be here."

Rutte himself is rather annoyed with the way people deal with each other in the country. As an example he names a case in which bus company Qbuzz rejected a job seeker because he refused to shake women's hands for religious reasons. The College of Human Rights recently ruled in the job seeker's favor. Rutte calls this ruling bizarre. "Qbuzz is of course completely correct", he said to the newspaper. "It can not be that a driver says: I refuse to shake women's hands because it does not suit my beliefs. That's exactly why I'm revolting and lots of people revolt. Because the standard here is that you shake each other's hands."

The VVD leader is also annoyed by the loutish behavior in the Netherlands, referring to all those who "stick to your bumper in traffic and bankers who complain about their bonuses. Or about immigrants who abuse the freedoms here to impose their cultural values on us."

According to Rutte, improvement starts with "exhibiting behavior you expect from others". "Fortunately most do that." He would also like to see people call each other on their behavior. "A while back i saw a father and his son on the street throw their garbage on the sidewalk. I said: why not just throw it in the trash can? and the man replied: 'oh, of course, sorry'. Anyone can do that."

Rutte also stressed that his party does not stand for excessive individualism, as his political opponents may claim. "May party stands for going to your neighbor with a bowl of soup if that is needed." he said to the newspaper. "That is also a free liberal society: freedom for yourself and looking after others."