(Freedom Party leader Geert) Wilders wants Netherlands out of EU
Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders thinks the Netherlands should leave the European Union. He has advocated leaving the eurozone before, which comes down to the same thing - as countries that drop the euro cannot remain a member of the European Union.
Speaking in New York where he is promoting his book Marked for Death, he said: “We can become a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) like Norway or of the European Trade Association (ETA) like Switzerland so that we keep the economic advantage. By no longer being a member of the EU and the eurozone, we determine our own rules, like who comes into the country, immigration and have our own currency.”
National sovereignty is set to be the main theme of his campaign. “Without it we cannot defend our identity and fight against Islamisation,” he said.
In the Freedom Party’s last election manifesto in 2010, Mr Wilders did not call for the Netherlands to leave the EU, but he did want to get rid of the European Parliament. In spite of this, his party fielded candidates in elections for the European Parliament.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Wilders dismissed rumours that he is planning to leave the Netherlands to live in the United States.
http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/wilders-wants-netherlands-out-eu
The far-right strikes again. Even Marine Le Pen of the French National Front (while definitely anti-EU and pro-sovereignty) did not campaign on France withdrawing from the EU. Perhaps Geert is fired up by the relative success of Le Pen in the first round of French presidential elections so he is upping the ante.
The rumor that he might move to the US - imagine the cheers in the Netherlands from the left - are in this article:
"Now that Wilders has disqualified himself from governing, relegating his party to opposition status, his political future here is limited. Even if his Freedom Party emerged as the largest in September’s elections, he would find it difficult, if not impossible, to find any coalition partners. No other party will be eager to work with a politician who has proved so unreliable.
So where does a savvy Islam-basher turn when he is down on his luck? To the United States, of course. Following her stint in Dutch politics, Somali-born Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali embarked on a successful career as an Islam critic in the US. There is speculation that Wilders may follow her example."
He does have a lot of buddies (Pat Buchanan and Pamela Geller to mention two) in the US anti-Muslim movement.