Wilders vows to keep condemning Islam as PVV celebrates 10 years

Anti-Islam party PVV celebrates its 10th anniversary on Monday. And for the next 10 years leader Geert Wilders plans to fight for restoring the Netherlands as "free country" and reducing Islam in daily life, he said in an interview with broadcaster NOS. Having his own party was only a dream for Wilders when he stormed out of the VVD after an argument. That dream became a reality when he registered Partij voor de Vrijheid (Freedom Party in English) on February 22nd, 2006. Ten years later Wilders' anti-Islam party is the fifth party in parliament and the most popular party in the polls. Wilders believes his party's popularity is due to the fact that the PVV always has the same positions and warned about the rise of what he calls Islamization, even before the rise of terrorist organization ISIS. He thinks that if Islam is not forced back, there will be no more Netherlands in 10 to 30 years. "If Islam gets more of a foothold in Western Europe, there will be no freedom and nothing more to choose", he said to NOS, speaking of an existential problem for the Netherlands and a historic moment. The PVV leaders also thinks it is high time for a sequel to his anti-Koran film Fitna. "I warned in Fitna of horrible things that happen in the name of Islam and the Koran, and these things are happening now. And we see from the flow of asylum seekers and open borders where it can lead to for our security." The rise of the PVV did not happen without pitfalls. Over the past years one after another PVV member resigned from the party. Most recently Wilders' spokesman Michael Heemels due to "financial missteps" caused by "problematic drug and alcohol use". But unlike other parties, this form of internal turbulence does not seem to have an effect on the PVV"s popularity in the polls. According to political historian Koen Vossen, this is because the PVV is very much centered around Wilders. "Other parties lose supporters through internal hassle. The PVV does not." he said to newspaper AD. "And there are more rules that do not seem to apply to the PVV. It is an iron rule that a party survives only if they have staff and money. Both is a problem for Wilders. There is no money for a decent video campaign and at election meetings he blows up the balloons himself. But he does have one thing: publicity. And he lives on it."