Anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders has to date been seen as largely a Dutch phenomenon but lately he has been making major inroads abroad as well. Not only did his Freedom Party (PVV) win four seats in the European Parliament elections, making it the second largest Dutch party in Brussels, but Mr Wilders is also garnering attention from freedom of speech advocates from all over the world. So is Mr Wilders’ message going global?

The weekend before last, Mr Wilders was in California to accept the ‘Hero of Conscience Award’, given to him by the American Freedom Alliance, which – according to its website – ‘addresses threats to Western values and ideals’. This past weekend, he was a high profile guest at a conference on freedom of speech in Copenhagen, organised by the Danish Free Press Society.
 

Shift
Not that these two invitations mean it’s the first time Mr Wilders’ ideas have travelled abroad – after all, last year’s Fitna film led to international uproar – but they do mark a shift in how the rest of the world sees Mr Wilders. At both the award ceremony in California and the conference in Copenhagen, the Freedom Party leader was revered and applauded, a significant change to his normal reception, especially in the Netherlands, where his anti-Islam and anti-immigration messages often spark heated debates.

Mr Wilders doesn’t really change tune whenever he travels abroad. During his trip to Denmark, he was interviewed by Danish TV, stating that ‘millions of European Muslims’ should be deported and stripped of their nationality if they don’t choose to adapt to European values. It’s a statement that has led to some controversy in both the Dutch and Danish press, but that didn’t dampen the spirits at the Copenhagen conference. Danish TV showed him being welcomed with applause and being embraced.
 

Support
The conference was organised by the Danish Free Press Society, formed after the row over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad three years ago. The invitation was  a sign of support, says the Society’s Vice-President Katrine Winkel Holm:

“He’s paying a high price for having the opinions he has and he is standing up for freedom of speech. That freedom  is under pressure, not only in the Netherlands, but in more European countries. We had the Mohammed cartoon crisis here in Denmark, so we know all about this.”

Ms Holm says this shows that the sentiments Mr Wilders is referring to are not limited to the Netherlands:

“Many of the people in Europe are as concerned as he is. It’s not only a Dutch problem, it’s a European concern”.
 

Maths
Nevertheless, Mr Wilders’ critics have voiced anger over his statements made on Danish TV. Dutch Integration Minister Eberhard van der Laan said on Monday: "These millions of criminal Muslims he’s referring to simply do not exist. Either Mr Wilders can’t do the maths, or he simply doesn’t want to do anything about the real problem. He just wants to voice his fear of Islam."

So while Geert Wilders may be feeling growing support abroad, there’s little chance that he’ll be receiving the Hero of Conscience Award anytime soon here in the Netherlands.

Listen to a Newsline interview with Katrine Winkel Holm:

Photo by ANP