VVD election poster sparks outrage

update 11:34, 8 March 2014: reaction from Prime Minister Mark Rutte was added to the article. The local Rotterdam VVD fraction didn't count on such an overwhelming response from an election poster when put up a poster with the text: "In Rotterdam we speak Dutch." Many people think it discriminating.

First candidate on the VVD list, Jeannette Baljeu, stands behind the message that people who live in Rotterdam should learn to speak Dutch. Baljeu did not expect the responses to be so intense, but insists too few people master Dutch, which leads to disadvantages for the people involved and for their children. The poster definitely sparked the discussion about integration with Twitter flooding with responses, both positive and negative, and even an online generator, allowing people to make their own poster to mock the VVD poster. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a VVD member, disagreed with those calling the posters discriminatory. On Twitter he said that, "learning the language is the only way to really participate in society." He said the Rotterdam VVD "has made a nice poster with a good message."