Geert Wilders tells Mandiner: “Tougher policies needed against immigration”

In Hungary, we have the luxury that only one party has a majority, we do not; a coalition agreement binds us, which involves a lot of compromises – says Geert Wilders. We spoke with the Dutch politician who won the election about the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the new EP faction that includes his party.

“Winning the parliamentary election in November was a great joy, even though I did not become the Prime Minister, although my party holds important ministerial positions. Are you satisfied? It was a great joy to win the election; no one expected that we would not only win, but win by such a large margin. I am proud of it. This was followed by tough negotiations: for six months, we negotiated with coalition partners. It is probably unusual in Hungary for negotiations to drag on for so long, but in the Netherlands, it is not uncommon for three or more parties to form a coalition, which takes time, as you can imagine. Few believed that we would reach an agreement, but in the end, we succeeded. Unfortunately, the position of Prime Minister did not come our way; all four party leaders decided to enter parliament. The leader of the second-largest coalition partner, the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), who was formerly the Minister of Justice, also gave up his position for a seat in parliament, so no one wanted to stay out. We provide most ministers and state secretaries in various important areas from economic affairs to refugee issues and immigration. Regarding the latter, I really hope that we can implement the toughest policy ever in the field of immigration and asylum, which is probably the most important issue in the Netherlands today. This is what people expect from us. I hope we can push through our ideas.”

“This is an unlawful war, it is natural to support Ukraine.”

“What hopes did you have when joining the Patriots for Europe EP faction? It is important to cooperate with other parties; we have been a member of a group in the European Parliament so far. Most members of the Patriots had collaborated with us in our previous group, but the Czechs and Spanish are new allies. Today, we have become strong enough, with 84 members from 12 countries, making us the third-largest faction in the EP. It is of historical significance that the third-largest force in the European Union is now the group of sovereigntists: it has never happened before, that conservative parties like us unite their strengths, nobody expected this. Our most important common denominator is that we value national sovereignty above all and we work primarily for our country. I am proud to be a part of this.”

“From October, Mark Rutte will be the Secretary-General of NATO. What do you think about this? I am delighted with the election for two reasons: it marks the end of Mark Rutte’s political era in the Netherlands, which was long overdue; and he will be a reliable politician as the Secretary-General of NATO. He is an experienced person and is expected to enjoy great support in NATO countries.”

“When you joined the Patriots, you tweeted that you support Ukraine in the war. Yes, that’s how I see it. The press sometimes portrays as if there are major disagreements among the parties allied with us, but there is one thing everyone agrees on: the Russian invasion was not legitimate. You cannot just invade a country that is not yours. We would not accept it, if Belgium did it to us, and you would not accept it if Romania did the same – of course, I do not assume it would ever happen. It is an unlawful war, it is obvious that we support Ukraine. This is also part of our coalition agreement, and we are loyal to the coalition. Once there is peace, we will be very happy, but until then, it is important to support Ukraine in the fight against the Russian aggressor both militarily and politically.”

“What do you think about the Middle East war and especially Iran’s role in it? I am the biggest fan of Israel in the Dutch parliament, I fully support it. It is an existential war it fights: it fights for its existence against radical Islam – the Sunni Hamas, the Shiite Hezbollah, and as you mentioned, Iran. Their opponents want to erase Israel from the earth, they want to annihilate the Jewish state and the Jewish people. We must defend Israel. Hamas has no right to complain about the defeat, as they started the conflict. I believe we should all support Israel: it is the only democracy in the Middle East, a kind of lighthouse in the darkness. If Israel falls, we all fall.”

“Today, there is a lot of talk about the gender war and woke-ism. How is the Netherlands dealing with this? We must be cautious, because a coalition agreement binds us. In Hungary, there is the luxury that only one party has a majority, not us. Four parties had to agree, as I said, we worked on it for six months, this means a lot of compromises. I believe woke-ism is not good for any society, on the contrary, it is extremely harmful, but I do not have the freedom of speech in this matter. Personally, I oppose everything related to globalism, but this is not our priority now. It is more important to achieve concrete results in the issue of immigration. Today, this is the issue that concerns people the most. Our firm goal is to strengthen our refugee and immigration policy, and we will fight hard for it.”

“Many people with immigrant backgrounds are now Dutch citizens. Is it possible to handle this issue without violating civil rights? First of all, we need to make it harder for newcomers to enter the Netherlands by tightening refugee and immigration laws. This is at the center of our coalition program. Secondly, we need to tighten our laws, impose heavier penalties, and imprison terrorists. Thirdly, if the person committing the crime is not yet a Dutch citizen, we should be able to revoke their residence permit more easily and deport them from the Netherlands. These are the three issues we have agreed on.”

“Do you still visit Hungary often? Where do you go, what do you usually do here? I will be back in Hungary in a few weeks. My wife and I usually visit her relatives, friends, and there are some beautiful places we always go to. We love Lake Balaton, but I also admire Eastern Hungary, places near the Hungarian-Ukrainian border. There is a nice hotel there, not far from Nyíregyháza, but I don’t want to reveal its name because I would like to visit incognito. The people are friendly, we enjoy being simple visitors. Eastern Hungary is beautiful, and we love being there. So, when it comes to Hungary, it is always Budapest, Lake Balaton, and the eastern part of the country. Besides family and friends, there is someone else I always visit, Bunyós Pityu. He is an extremely good-humored character, and I always try to meet him.”

“Geert Wilders was born in Venlo in 1963. He was previously a member of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy and entered parliament from the list in 1998. In 2004, he left and set out to build his own formation, the Freedom Party. He sharply criticizes Islam and Muslim immigration. When in November 2004, he criticized Islam in one of Theo van Gogh’s films, the writer-director was killed on the street by a Moroccan-born, but Dutch-born terrorist; during the police investigation, it was revealed that Wilders was also targeted. The parliamentary elections held in November 2023 were convincingly won by the Freedom Party, and the right-wing coalition government was inaugurated in July. Wilders is not a member of the cabinet and continues to lead his party from parliament. His wife is Hungarian, which is why he visits Hungary several times.”