Millions see Dutch comic’s Russia referendum video to “be annexed by the Netherlands"

Dutch comic Arjen Lubach went viral with a video satirizing the Russia referendum vote that started on Friday calling for the annexation of four occupied areas of Ukraine. Lubach said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was organizing a referendum in a country where he has no territorial claim, and if Putin can do that, then the Netherlands can do the same in Russia. “Our King William IV is also your king,” the narrator claims in the English-subtitled video, which has been watched millions of times on various platforms in the past day and a half.

The video was broadcast as part of De Avondshow met Arjen Lubach, which aired on Wednesday evening. It was produced shortly after Putin announced the referendum about the occupied territories' connection with Russia. According to the comic, the Netherlands might as well hold a referendum in Russia about connection to the Netherlands because of the two countries’ long historical ties.

“Our King William IV is also your king. Because in 1816, Anna Pavolvna, the daughter of Tsar Paul I, married William II, the ancestor of William IV. And yes, his Russian is terrible, but so is his Dutch, and that has worked out fine for years,” the video claims.

It also features a photo of Putin drinking a Heineken with King Willem-Alexander at the Olympics in 2014, and notes that Putin’s daughter has been living in Voorschoten for years. "And believe me: you don't live there for fun, but you would for your real motherland."

The video continued, stating, “And there’s another advantage: when you belong to the Netherlands, your sons don’t have to die in a meaningless war against Ukraine.”

When the narrator rhetorically asked, “Who doesn’t want to become a province of the Netherlands?” she noted that if Russia were to become the 13th Dutch province, possible names could be, “Rusburg, Rustrecht, Gooi-en Russia, East-Holland, Frusia, or Over-Russel.”

In 2017, Lubach also went viral with two videos on international politics - one titled America First, Netherlands Second about Donald Trump, and one titled Nonsensical Rifle Addiction about the United States gun laws.