The Netherlands: Geert Wilders compared with Nazi propaganda master Joseph Goebbels -

Wilders a reborn Goebbels?

The German Press Agency (DPA) has compared the statements that Wilders made during a speech, to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.


Last week, Wilders gave a speech at a PVV campaign event, in The Hague. During his speech he asked the audience: "In this city...and in the Netherlands...do you want more or less Moroccans?". The audience replied with: "Less, less, less!" while applauding loudly. The DPA claims that Wilders rhetoric is comparable to the same statements that Goebbels made during his Sportpalast speech, in 1943.

During Goebbels speech, he averted from his written textand began to mention the complete "extermination" of the Jews. In his written text of the speech, he wrote the word "solution" and fittingly stopped himself before completing his statement. "Solution" referred to the term "final solution" and was seen as a less harsher term to describe the true intentions of the Nazi regime.

After basking in the applause from his PVV party supporters, Wilders said: "Good, we can arrange that.". Last week, Wilders had also stated during a visit to The Hague that with PVV leadership, the city would
have "with less expense and if possible less Moroccans.".

Read more: Geert Wilders compared with Nazi propaganda master Joseph Goebbels - Minneapolis Community Activism | Examiner.com

Netherlands: Geert Wilders "a racist A-hole" screams headline of the AD newspaper - Is he? - "Absolutely" say majority of Dutch voters

Geert Wilders may have blown his chances in the European elections, writes Robin Pascoe in the Dutch News.NL following his racist statements last night in the Hague.

Even though Wilders party the PVV  fielded candidates only  in The Hague and the city of Almere, Wilders must have hoped it was going to be his night in the Hague, just like in 2010.

The party was pretty well assured of remaining the biggest in the polder city of Almere and looked set to dominate in fhe Hague as well.

It did not work out for Wilders as he had hoped.

Support for the PVV fell in both places - almost one percentage point in Almere and 2.6 percentage points in The Hague. Only Government coalition partners Labour and the VVD did worse in the city of peace and justice.

Before the results became known, however, Wilders was prepared to triumph. He entered the party meeting in The Hague - once again - as he called it, "the eye of the Tiger",  from the theme of the movie Rocky. He wanted to be the classic underdog looking to deliver a knock-out blow to the political establishment in The Hague.

He spoke of what a great night it was - even though the results that interested him were not yet out - and then came the chanting. 'Do you want more or fewer Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands?,’ Wilders asked the crowd. They chanted ‘fewer, fewer, fewer’. 'We're going to organize it,' Wilders said with a faint smile.

"It ain't going to happen - you racist A-hole", said a political opponent. .

EU-Digest

The Netherlands - Ukraine: Geert Wilders' goes on rampage in Dutch Parliament during Ukraine Debate

Mr. Geert Wilders of the Nationalist - Anti-Muslim Party For Freedom (PVV) went into a verbal rampage during the Ukraine debate in the Dutch parliament and presented the following motion on behalf of his party  on the situation Ukraine

"whereas the European Commission proposes to give billions of euros of European money, including Dutch money, to Ukraine, believes that not one penny of Dutch tax money should be given to Ukraine, and requests that the government makes certain that not one penny of Dutch tax money goes to Ukraine, and proceeds to the order of the day".  (The motion was translated from Dutch into English by Don Hank)

EU-Digest

The Netherlands. Dutch populist eurosceptic politician Geert Wilders wants Netherlands to leave EU

Eurosceptics Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen

In a foretaste of his campaign for European parliamentary elections in May, Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders is making his case that the Netherlands would be better off leaving the European Union.

He claimed Thursday a "NExit" -- Netherlands exit from both the European Union and euro currency zone -- would add nearly 10,000 euros ($13,000) to GDP per capita over two decades, from around 35,000 euros now.

The Dutch government rejects Wilders' views, saying a pullout from the European Union would cause irreparable damage to trade relations in a country heavily reliant on trade, and a euro departure would lead to a new financial crisis.

Wilders' views on leaving the European Union have so far gained little traction in the Netherlands, and are seen as practically unworkable. However, his euro-skeptic stance, like that of other parties elsewhere on the political extremes -- such as France's Marine Le Pen, Greece's Alexis Tsipras and Britain's Nigel Farage, does resonate with a wider public.

A survey published last week by pollster Maurice de Hond found almost as many Dutch would vote for Wilders' Freedom Party as for the two parties in the centrist governing coalition combined -- if national elections were held today. They are not scheduled until 2017. Wilders said he hoped that his faction would be the largest Dutch faction in the European elections.

At the press conference, Wilders presented a study that concluded there would be significant positive economic effects from leaving the EU. He commissioned the study from the London-based think-tank Capital Economics, founded by Wilders Eurosceptic economist friend Roger Bootle.

EU-Digest

Switzerland votes a narrow 'yes' to cap EU immigration - and shoot themselves in the foot

Switzerland has voted 50.3 percent in favor of limiting annual migration from the EU, thus ending the policy of free movement within the bloc that was established in 2002.

Swiss voters narrowly decided that immigration quotas would be reintroduced, thereby overturning the free movement policy introduced in the European Union 12 years ago. Early results showed the country to be very divided in opinion over the 'Stop mass immigration’ initiative.

‘Stop mass immigration’ was introduced by the nationalist Swiss People's Party (SVP). Its goal is to introduce annual quotas on the number of foreign workers entering the country. The SVP currently has 54 seats in the Federal Assembly, and its vote share of 29% in the 2007 Federal Council election was the highest vote ever recorded for a single party in Switzerland. The SVP opposes governmental measures for environmental protection.. The Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher. 

The SVP adheres to national conservatism, aiming at the preservation of Switzerland's political sovereignty and a conservative society. Furthermore, the party promotes the principle of individual responsibility and is skeptical toward any expansion of governmental services. This stance is most evident in the rejection of an accession of Switzerland to the European Union, the rejection of military involvement abroad, and the rejection of increases in government spending on social welfare and education.

The emphasis of the party's policies lie in foreign policy, immigration and homeland security policy as well as tax and social welfare policy. Among political opponents, the SVP has gained a reputation as a party that maintains a hard-line stance. Most memorable negative of the party is that it denied to condemn Fascism.

Final count: Yes 50.3%(1,463,954 votes) No 49.7%(1,444,438) Turnout: 56.5% 

The result will likely vex multinational companies based there; Roche, Novartis, UBS, and other industry giants frequently utilize foreign labor.

According to the latest data, 23 percent of the country’s eight million inhabitants are foreigners – the second largest proportion in Europe after Luxembourg.

Many fear the initiative would have a negative impact on the economy, which relies on foreign workers for progress and a competitive edge.

Italians and Germans reportedly comprise the largest contingent of immigrants to Switzerland, most of whom seek work in IT, healthcare, and financial sectors.

Severin Schwan, Austrian CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, said about half of the employees at the research and development site in Basel, Switzerland are foreigners.

EU-Digest

Dutch Confront Euro’s Just Desserts as EU Appetite Ebbs - by James G. Neuger and Fred Pals

The agitators lobbed the banana-cream projectiles at the official, Gerrit Zalm, on Jan. 4, 1999, to denounce the newly arrived euro currency, a tool they warned would lead to the dismantling of the welfare state and the dominance of bankers.

“I don’t regret it at all,” Jelle Goezinnen, a pie thrower then and currently a refugee counselor in Utrecht, says today. “I still stand behind all those actions.”

Fifteen years and one existential euro crisis later, his pie brigade, known as TAART, has successors questioning what the policy makers of that era wrought for what was once a model euro nation. Now the 16.8 million Dutch are caught in a trap much like the one that has caught their bailed-out neighbors: not enough economic growth, too much debt, and a shortage of policy options fueling doubts about the benefit of union.

For Frits Bolkestein, a former center-right Dutch political leader and member of the European Commission, the lesson is simple. “The monetary union has failed,” says Bolkestein, 80, himself once a target of pie-wielding assailants. “I have considerable difficulty in imagining us continuing like this for very much longer. Let us say 10 years ahead: will we then have the same sort of mess?”

From the start, the Netherlands has been intimately bound up with the euro. One of the six founders of the group that grew into the 28-nation European Union, it hosted the 1991 summit in Maastricht that laid out the roadmap to the currency and sent Wim Duisenberg to Frankfurt as the first president of the European Central Bank. The Dutch made a fetish of the euro’s deficit rules, only to run afoul of them when the crisis struck.

Austerity is no longer the national pastime of a country that pioneered global capitalism and made “going Dutch” a synonym for thrift. Even the purveyors of marijuana who dot the city carved by the canals that made Amsterdam a latter-day tourist destination complain of hard times made harder by government rules.

“Look what I got since we opened at nine this morning -- not even 10 euros,” Mohamed Ouchene, 38, co-owner of the “Blue Lagoon,” says around midday, pointing to his nearly empty cash register and the two customers in the shop. “We wanted to refurbish and upgrade the place but we postponed.”

The Dutch economy is set to be the third-worst performer in the 18-member euro area this year, with growth of 0.2 percent, according to the commission. Ireland, Portugal, Spain, even Greece -- four countries saved from financial ruin partly by Dutch aid, grudgingly granted -- will do better.

“When the party is going on, you don’t want to take away the fun,” says Arnoud Boot, a professor of corporate finance and financial markets at the University of Amsterdam. “As long as house prices were going up, there was no problem. The political process was not good at dealing with these things.” 

Note EU-Digest: whatever way you turn it the fact remains that there is a global economic crises going on all over the world - and - if the Netherlands would not have been part of the EU Eurozone the economic crises would have probably hit the country even harder than it did now. 

Where there is a major problem is that the Dutch Government is doing an extremely poor job at communicating the benefits of the EU, Eurozone and EURO. As a result  opportunist radical populist politicians like Geert Wilders are gaining traction with what in essence is total unfounded nonsense. 

Read more: Dutch Confront Euro’s Just Desserts as EU Appetite Ebbs - Businessweek

EU Immigration Policies: Immigrants Benefit Host Nations' Economies, so Why Is Public Perception Negative? - by Anna Leijonhufvud

Immigrants seeking democracy and better life benefit economy

Almira is one of many millions of immigrants who every year cross borders in search of a better life. A year ago, she left her home village in Croatia to find work in Helsingborg, Sweden, and today she's gone to Arbetsförmedlingen, a Swedish public employment agency, to find a job. "I worked as a cleaner for a hotel, but the work is tiresome," she said. "I would want to work as a receptionist, but I don't think my Swedish is good enough yet."

Immigrants like Almira are often seen as having a negative impact on the host country, such as when they allegedly take jobs from the native-born. But as anti-immigration views have gained traction--even in government  policy in some cases, as in the U.K.--an increasingly large body of work suggests that assumptions that immigrants are harmful to a country's economy are unfounded.

"There is overwhelming evidence that migrants have a positive impact on the economy," said Peter Sutherland, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for migration and development. Sutherland was on the panel for the World Economic Forum's Open Forum session titled "Immigration: Welcome or Not?"

Also on the panel was former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who agreed with Sutherland that immigrants often bring lots of advantages with them. To make his point, Annan referred to a poster showing Albert Einstein trying to cross the border into a country with a sack of clothes on his back. The caption read: "The sack of clothes is not the only thing that the immigrant brings."

While many of the leaders speaking at the WEF appear convinced, the evidence that immigrants have a positive effect on their host countries' economies has not yet had much impact on public perception.

Editors Note: The question is why European Governments are  not making sure they change this Public perception about the benefits of immigration ? Instead they are letting populist, nationalistic politicians like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Marie Le Pen in France and others in Europe control the debate.

EU-Digest

Google: Questionable Anti-Freedom of Speech action by Google after it blocks Dutch Politician 'Geert Wilders' account

Google has deactivated the mail account of Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders following complaints that the anti-Islam politician was using it to spread anti Islam initiative.

“Unbelievable; Google just blocked the account. It seems Mohammed Rabbae’s complaint was successful,” Wilders tweet was quoted by NL Times on Friday, December 27.

Wilders’ was referring to the complaint presented by Rabbae on behalf of the National Council of Moroccans at Google that Wilders was abusing its service.

Rabbae’s move followed many other complaints that were lodged against Wilders after he came out with his anti-Island sticker a week ago; it read “Islam is a lie. Mohamed is a criminal. The Qur’an is poison.”

The politician claimed the sticker was not meant as an action against Muslims.

After Google’s move, Wilders launched a new account where people may order his sticker.

 "Regardless if one agrees with Wilders or not, but this action by Google is unheard of in a democratic country like the Netherlands or for that matter any EU member state as it relates to secularism and freedom of speech" said a member of the Dutch CDA political party.

Almere-Digest

Attention Geert Wilders and Marie Le Pen: Eurozone posts euro 13.1-billion September trade surplus

The eurozone posted another big 12-month increase in its trade surplus on Monday, the latest monthly data from the EU's Eurostat agency showed.

The first estimate for September gave a 13.1-billion-euro surplus (US$17.7 billion) for the trade in goods with the rest of the world, compared with 8.6 billion euros in September 2012.

A trade surplus is one of the factors of growth in an economy, whereas a deficit tends to sap growth, and so achieving a trade surplus is of critical importance to economies in crisis.

Read more: Eurozone posts 13.1-billion September trade surplus: EU

An Eurosceptic Alliance? - Le Pen, Wilders eye eurosceptic alliance for EU elections - will the voter be fooled?

Le Pen and Wilders the Eurosceptic Alliance

Eurosceptics Geert Wilders of the Netherlands and Marine Le Pen of France are discussing closer cooperation in a bid to capitalize on voter frustration with mainstream politics before the 2014 European parliament elections.

Ms Le Pen arrived in the Netherlands on November 13 for further talks with Mr.Wilders . 

But will it work to band Eurosceptic parties from around Europe, including the Netherlands, Britain, France,  Germany, Sweden, Austria and Denmark together?

"Eurosceptism has reached its peak", said a French Euro Parliamentarian." Even though the European voter might initially have been attracted to these Populist political parties, the voters are also not completely stupid.

They have seen during the economic crises and the recent NSA spying drama that only a united Europe can withstand and react as one against the onslaught of negative economic and political forces from outside the EU.".

"What could the Netherlands, which is totally dependent on trading with other EU nations, achieve by going solo", says D66 Party chief  and parliamentarian Alexander Pechtold, "I have asked Mr. Wilders this question many times  but he never comes up with any concrete answers."

Le Pen has sought to rid her party of overt neo-Nazis and racists and has distanced herself from the anti-Semitic remarks of her father. But a string of embarrassing scandals over racism among party members could still make her an unappealing partner for Wilders in the eyes of his Jewish backers and local supporters.

Wilders, who is anti-Islam, has been funded by The Middle East Forum, a pro-Israeli think tank based in Philadelphia, USA: the group also funded Wilders' legal defense in 2010 and 2011 against Dutch charges of inciting racial hatred.

EU-Digest

Netherlands: If Elections Were Held Today Coalition Government Would Suffer Smashing Defeat - Says Polster

According to Dutch pollster Maurice de Hond the Dutch government coalition parties VVD (Conservative) and PvdA (Labor) would, if elections were held today, together get only 34 seats, 21 for the VVD and 13 for the PvdA.  A loss of 45 seats compared to last years election

The PVV ( Party for Freedom) of anti-Islam and anti-immigration Geert Wilders, who as his opponents say is better know for his "one liner's" rather than his political realism would double it's membership base in the Dutch parliament from 15 to 30 seats and become the biggest party in the parliament.

Almere-Digest