Netherlands PM says those who don't respect customs should leave | The Guardian - Jan. 19, 2017 |

The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has published an open letter to the country's citizens ahead of elections in March, telling anyone who cannot respect its customs to leave.

People who "refuse to adapt, and criticise our values" should "behave normally, or go away", Rutte said in a full-page newspaper message seen as a bid to win over voters drawn to Geert Wilders' anti-immigration, anti-Muslim Freedom (PVV) party.

He said the Dutch were "increasingly uncomfortable" with those who abused the freedoms they enjoyed after coming to the Netherlands, who "harass gays, or whistle at women in short skirts, or brand ordinary Dutch people racists".

Rutte, whose liberal VVD party narrowly trails PVV in the polls with elections less than two months away, said he shared the feelings of those who thought: "If you so fundamentally reject this country, then I'd prefer it if you leave."

He said the solution was "not to tar everyone with the same brush, or insult or expel whole groups" but to "make it crystal clear what is normal, and what is not normal, in our country. We must actively defend our values."

UK will pay huge price for prioritising migration curbs, says Dutch PM | The Guardian - Jan. 19, 2017 |

Playing the xenophobia card in close election to beat PVV Geert Wilders ...

Spat With Turkey Appears to Boost Dutch Prime Minister on Eve of Election | The Intercept - March 2017 |

Polls suggest that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte could be returned to office, boosted by a wave of approval for his feud with Turkey's president.

'Sapere aude'

Dutch king meets with asylum seekers at crowded Ter Apel center [_link]

— NL Times (@NL_Times) August 31, 2022

[_link]

— De Telegraaf (@telegraaf) August 31, 2022

Translation:

VVD member Daan de Neef resigns as MP because of 'ice cold' asylum approach

De Neef states that the VVD is 'simply' no longer his party, because he had, for example, counted more on 'humanity' in a week in which a three-month-old baby died in Ter Apel and Doctors without Borders spoke of an emergency. "That compassion failed to materialize and, in my opinion, an ice-cold approach was taken in its place," De Neef writes on Twitter. "I cannot and will not defend this." De Neef lacks balance in his political work, between doing good things and defending other subjects with difficulty.

'Sapere aude'

Half of NL residents have little to no trust in politics: SCP [_link]

— NL Times (@NL_Times) September 1, 2022

Rutte Cabinet members defending the indefensible ...

'Sapere aude'