Hague riots prove threat of normalizing right-wing extremism: counter-terror office

Last Saturday’s riots in The Hague are a sign of the normalization of right-wing extremist ideology, the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) wrote in an advisory report to caretaker Justice Minister Foort van Oosten earlier this week. The report was made public at the request of parliament. Extremists known to the domestic intelligence service AIVD were present at the riots, the AIVD also reported.

The NCTV report recommended explicitly addressing the right-wing extremist ideals behind the riots. The fact that the VVD Minister initially failed to do so during question time on Tuesday, despite this recommendation, drew considerable criticism. DENK, for example, found it unacceptable that the Minister did not mention Nazis, while rioters were giving the Hitler salute and chanting antisemitic slogans.

On Tuesday evening, the Minister said that in retrospect he had been “too rigid” in this regard and spoke of “hooligans and far-right rioters” who chanted slogans that were “antisemitic” and “Nazi.” The Minister said that he had been reluctant to do so earlier because he feared influencing the legal proceedings against the rioters.

The NCTV had warned him of the risks of not speaking out clearly. “Simply referring to rioters, thugs, or hooligans, without addressing the underlying right-wing extremist views, fails to paint a complete picture of reality,” the agency said in its report. This would further normalize their ideology.

The NCTV pointed out that politicians also play a role in normalizing right-wing extremism. People feel empowered when they believe that influential people like politicians think the same way they do, the counterterrorism office said. “It legitimizes extremist beliefs, even when politicians themselves condemn violence.”

Extremists known to the domestic intelligence service AIVD were present at the right-wing demonstration and the far-right violence in The Hague last Saturday, said AIVD chief Erik Akerboom during a presentation in parliament. The group of rioters was diverse and came from various quarters, including extremist groups and hooligans, according to the AIVD, the police, and the NCTV.

Wieke Vink of the NCTV called it not unexpected that football hooligans joined the violence. She said that coronavirus demonstrations and riots abroad showed that various groups with different interests come together seeking violence and confrontations with the police. “That often leads to violence, and it all fits the right-wing extremist narrative.”

The organizer of the anti-asylum demonstration that turned into the massive riots, Els Noort, known online as Els Rechts, claimed that members of the anti-fascist movement Antifa were in The Hague to provoke violence. AIVD chief Akerboom called this claim “unlikely.”

Police Chief Wilbert Paulissen told parliament that the police are reviewing all available footage to track down and arrest people involved in the riots. “We quickly saw that there was a group that was after one thing: a confrontation with the police. If that’s what they’re after, that’s what they’ll get.”

According to Akerboom, "right-wing extremist and threatening statements were made online in the run-up to Saturday's demonstration." He called it important to understand the intentions of those participating in the violence, "but some of it is also driven by tribal behavior."