In the run-up to the parliamentary election last year, pro-diversity party DENK worked on a fake PVV advertisement aimed at setting the anti-Islam party in a bad light, NPO Radio 1 program De Nieuws BV reports. DENK ultimately decided not to use the idea. PVV leader Geert Wilders is furious and is considering pressing charges against DENK.
The online ad consisted of a picture of Wilders with the text: 'After 15 March we will purify the Netherlands', according to De Nieuws BV.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte refused to answer substantive questions about a tax deal between Shell and the Tax Authority in the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday, leaving parliamentarians furious.
PVV leader Geert Wilders is allowed to organize a Mohammed-cartoon competition in the Tweede Kamer building. The Dutch coordinator for counter-terrorism and security NCTV sees no safety risks because the exhibition will be held in the PVV chambers, which are highly secured and private, a spokesperson for the NCTV confirmed to RTL Nieuws.
"The NCTV has informed the Tweede Kamer [the lower house of Dutch parliament] that it has no objection to the exhibition from a safety point of view", the spokesperson said.
Lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops asked for the appeal in the hate speech case against Geert Wilders to be postponed on Thursday. The PVV leader needs more time for investigation, his lawyer said on the first of 11 days set aside for the appeal, NU.nl reports.
The court in The Hague will start the hate speech appeal against PVV leader Geert Wilders next week Thursday. Eleven days were set aside for the trial, which will be held in the high security court at Schiphol, RTL Nieuws reports.
The entire opposition, with the exception of the SGP, supported a motion of censure against Prime Minister Mark Rutte in a parliamentary debate about secret memos surrounding the Rutte III government's decision to abolish dividend tax, NU.nl reports.
Dutch citizens with dual nationality must lose their voting rights and must not be eligible for political positions in the Netherlands, according to PVV leader Geert Wilders. This is in the interests of "the Netherlands' survival", he said in an interview with the Telegraaf.
"The Netherlands is our country. It must be run by Dutch, who are elected by Dutch. By Dutch wo do not even have the appearance of double loyalty", he said to the newspaper.
Geert Wilders and his lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops want the appeal in the hate speech trial against the PVV leader postponed until after the Public Prosecutor decided what to do with discrimination charges pressed against D66 leader Alexander Pechtold over a remark he made about Russians.
Wilders and Knoops sent the request for postponement to the Court of Appeal in The Hague on March 1st, the PVV confirmed to RTL Nieuws.
GroenLinks won big in the municipal elections and is now the largest party in cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht. With all votes in 325 out of 335 municipalities counted, it seems almost certain that the CDA will remain the biggest party in the Netherlands, RTL Nieuws reports.
Geert Wilders and his PVV won city council seats seats in each one of the 30 municipalities the party participated in during the municipal elections on Wednesday. In total the PVV currently stands on 74 seats, the Volkskrant reports.
During the previous municipal elections four years ago, the PVV only participated in two municipalities - Almere and The Hague. The party got fewer seats in those two municipalities this time around. In Almere the party dropped from nine to seven seats, and in The Hague from seven to two seats.
PVV leader Geert Wilders decided to cancel a planned visit to an election event in the Terneuzen town hall on Wednesday after Terneuzen mayor Jan Lonink said that he was not pleased by the visit.
In the final debate before the municipal elections, the national party leaders of all parties represented in parliament had a final chance to convince voters to vote for their party on Wednesday. While the debate was for the municipal elections, the party leaders mainly focused on national issues on Tuesday evening, NU.nl reports.
Geert Wilders and the PVV sparked outrage and anger from politicians and various organizations with an anti-Islam campaign video broadcast on NPO on Thursday. A number of politicians and organizations announced that they will be pressing charges of incitement to hatred and violence against the PVV leader as well as the broadcaster.
Chief Public Prosecutor Bart Nieuwenhuizen calls on politicians to stop pressing charges against one another in order to get attention. These "fake, tampering and show declarations" cost the judiciary a lot of time, he wrote in his column on Omroep West.
ING Bank raised the salary of CEO Ralph Hamers by more than half this year, to over 3 million euros, NOS reports. Parliamentarians are furious and demand an explanation. Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance is "not amused", according to newspaper AD.
Vliegramp MH17, the foundation that represents the relatives of people who died in the MH17 disaster, is furious at PVV leader Geert Wilders for wearing a Russian-Dutch friendship pin on his suit during a visit to Duma in Russia on Tuesday. The next of kin want an apology from Wilders, the foundation said in a tweet.
Wilders tweeted a picture of the pin. "I proudly wear it here. A Russian-Dutch friendship pin", the PVV leader said.
Working with anti-Islam party PVV in his first cabinet was the biggest mistake Prime Minister Mark Rutte made in his career, Rutte said on television program WNL on Sunday.
Rutte added that he isn't saying he never should have done that "experiment", according to RTL Nieuws. "If the party is willing, with 24 seats, to become part of the power, then you have to try it", the Prime Minister said. According to him, things went well for 18 months "until it became stressful", and PVV leader Geert Wilders refused to take any responsibility.
The Public Prosecutor dropped the charges PVV leader Geert Wilders pressed against Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Prosecutor announced on Thursday. Wilders accused Rutte of discriminating against the Dutch people by giving asylum seekers, among others, more benefits than the Dutch.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte "underestimated" the impact Halbe Zijlstra's lie about being at a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin would have, he said in a parliamentary debate following the Foreign Affairs Minister's resignation on Tuesday. He understands Zijlstra's decision to step down, Rutte added, RTL Nieuws reports.
Minister Halbe Zijlstra of Foreign Affairs admitting that he lied about having a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, was met by fierce criticism from opposition parties in the Tweede Kamer. The coalition parties call his actions mainly "unwise", NOS reports.
In order to prevent undesirable influence on Dutch democracy, the government wants to limit foreign donations to Dutch political parties, Minister Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations wrote in a letter to the Tweede Kamer on Thursday.
Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb caused a social media uproar with an interview on NPO Radio 1 in which he said that "every Muslim is a bit of a salafist". PVV leader Geert Wilders called for Aboutaleb's resignation.
The PVV will be participating in the municipal elections of 30 municipalities in March, the party announced on Friday. PVV leader Geert Wilders initially planned to participate in 60 municipal elections, but previously already said that this will not happen because the party is struggling to find good candidates, RTL Nieuws reports.
The PVV in Rotterdam found a new faction leader for the municipal election in March. Maurice Meeuwissen will lead Geert Wilders' anti-Islam party in the city, Wilders announced on Twitter.
