Report: Christian nationalist symbols, rhetoric spread across Dutch anti-asylum protests
Christian nationalist symbols, such as crosses or rosaries, are increasingly appearing at anti-asylum protests all over the Netherlands within far-right online networks, according to an investigation published on Friday by Justice for Prosperity (JfP).
At protests against asylum seeker centers in Loosdrecht, Amsterdam, and Ter Apel, JfP documented crucifixes carried in procession, rosaries displayed alongside nationalist and white supremacist symbols, and Crusades-related imagery on banners and clothing.
In Amsterdam, a local Forum for Democracy figure was photographed holding a rosary during a demonstration. At a Malieveld rally organized by “Els Rechts,” the event opened with a Bible reading and featured a large wooden cross displaying the message “God is good, Geert is great.”
The organization reports that protest groups, including several “Defend” movements, present themselves as protectors of women, children, and the traditional family structure defined as heterosexual, Christian, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-abortion, and opposed to religious minorities.
The organization also noted growing ties between Dutch actors and organized ideological networks. It said members of Defend Den Bosch have joined OSMTH Nederland, an organization linked to modern traditions of the medieval Knights Templar.
Across monitored networks, JfP identified repeated use of “remigration” rhetoric and references to the Great Replacement theory, a conspiracy theory claiming that native European populations are being systematically replaced through migration and demographic change. At the Loosdrecht protest, former PVV politician Gidi Markuszower said people are being “replaced ethnically.” Forum for Democracy politician Lidewij de Vos is scheduled to speak at an upcoming “Remigration” summit in Porto.
The report situates these developments in an international context. In Hungary, it says Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has used EU funds to help build transnational Christian nationalist networks. In Poland, it points to church-state cooperation under Law and Justice (PiS) that produced one of Europe’s most restrictive abortion regimes.
In April 2026, the Council of Churches in the Netherlands, representing 19 denominations and about five million members, issued a warning about radical-right ideology entering religious communities. It described the ideology as racist, antisemitic, a threat to democracy and the rule of law, and a threat to Christianity itself. Furthermore, it specifically cautioned against the use of Christian identity as a marker for inclusion and exclusion.
