Geert Wilders, Dutch lawyer and politician
Geert Wilders (Dutch: [ˈɣeːrt ˈʋɪldərs]; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer), having held a parliamentary seat since 1998. In the 2010 formation of the First Rutte cabinet, a minority government of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)—which he left in 2004—and Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Wilders actively participated in the negotiations, resulting in a "tolerance agreement" (gedoogakkoord) between the PVV and these parties. He withdrew his party's parliamentary support in 2012, citing disagreements with the cabinet over proposed budget cuts. Wilders is best known for his criticism of Islam and the European Union (EU); his views have made him a controversial figure in the Netherlands and abroad. Since 2004 he has been protected at all times by armed police.Raised a Roman Catholic, Wilders left the church at his coming of age. His travels to Israel and the greater Middle East as a young adult helped form his political views. Wilders worked as a speechwriter for the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie – VVD); he later served as parliamentary assistant to party leader Frits Bolkestein from 1990 to 1998. He entered the municipal council of Utrecht in 1997. The following year he entered the House of Representatives. Citing irreconcilable differences over the party's position on the accession of Turkey to the European Union, he left the VVD in 2004 to form his own party, the Party for Freedom.
Wilders has campaigned to stop what he views as the "Islamisation of the Netherlands". He has compared the Quran to Mein Kampf and has campaigned to have the book banned in the Netherlands. He advocates ending immigration from Muslim countries, and supports banning the construction of new mosques. Wilders was a speaker at the Facing Jihad Conference held in Israel in 2008, which discussed the dangers of jihad, and has called for a hard line against what he called "street terror" exerted by minorities in Dutch cities. His controversial 2008 film featuring his views on Islam, Fitna, received international attention and extreme criticism. His party was also sued because content was used in his film without permission. He has been described in the media as populist and labeled far-right. Wilders, who long refused to align himself with European far-right leaders such as Jean-Marie Le Pen and Jörg Haider and expressed concern about being "linked with the wrong rightist fascist groups", views himself as a right-wing liberal. More recently, however, Wilders worked together with Marine Le Pen of the French National Front in an initially ill-fated, but eventually successful attempt to form a parliamentary group in the European Parliament which now includes parties from nine member states, among them Austria's Freedom Party, Italy's Northern League and Belgium's Flemish Interest.Geert Wilders has been charged in relation to incitement multiple times. Wilders was first accused of criminally insulting religious and ethnic groups and inciting hatred and discrimination. He was found not guilty in 2011. In 2016, he landed in court again and was found guilty of incitement and encouraging discrimination against Moroccan immigrants to the Netherlands, but faced no punishment.