US-Dutch Relations: Dutch Wary of Trump’s Ambassador to Holland, Who Imagines “No-Go Zones” in Netherlands

Pete Hoekstra US Ambassador to the Netherlands and Donald Trump

Donald Trump's choice of Pete Hoekstra to represent the United States as ambassador to the Netherlands has alarmed Dutch observers familiar with the former congressman’s bizarre and entirely false claim that parts of their country have been surrendered to Islamist radicals, creating “no-go zones” for non-Muslims.

Hoekstra, who was born in the Netherlands but raised in Michigan as a staunch social conservative, might find himself largely unwelcome in his parents’ homeland, where even opponents of Muslim immigration, like the opposition leader Geert Wilders, typically cast themselves as defenders of liberal social values, like support for gay rights and abortion.

News of Hoekstra’s nomination prompted stunned reports in Dutch publications about the shockingly racist, anti-Chinese campaign ad he ran in 2012, his repeated efforts, during an 18-year career in Congress, to deny gay couples the right to marry or adopt children, and his leading role in the fight against government-funded health insurance.

Most baffling of all, though, was Hoekstra’s absurd claim, just two years ago, that the Dutch government had ceded control of sections of their country to Islamist radicals.

Martijn de Koning, an anthropologist at the University of Amsterdam whose research focuses on the Dutch debate over Islam, drew attention to video of comments Hoekstra made in 2015 at a conference sponsored by the David Horowitz Freedom Center.

Hoekstra’s contribution to a panel discussion of Muslim migration to Europe was to claim that a “stealth jihad” was underway which had plunged the Netherlands into such “chaos” that “there are cars being burned, there are politicians that are being burned, … and yes, there are no-go zones in the Netherlands.”

The former member of Congress went on to tell the conference that he and his wife had narrowly escaped from Budapest that summer, one day before thousands of Muslims seeking refuge from the war in Syria arrived in the Hungarian capital. “The little railroad station that we went through in Budapest,”

Hoekstra recalled, “the next day it was surrounded by 10,000 invaders, or refugees.”

What should make Hoekstra’s nomination to represent the United States in Europe alarming to Americans is that he is part of a far-right movement against the imaginary threat of Islamic Shariah law that uses the fear of terrorism to stoke hatred of Muslims.

Read complete report and watch video : Dutch Wary of Trump’s Ambassador, Who Imagines “No-Go Zones” in Netherlands

Poland - WWII: Poland to open new front in EU clash - by Andrew Rettman

The Polish government is preparing to claim World War II reparations from Germany, opening a new front in its clash with the EU establishment.

Arkadiusz Mularczyk, an MP from Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party, announced the move on Wednesday (2 August) amid commemorations of the Warsaw uprising.

He told the Polish news agency, Pap, that parliament would conclude a legal analysis of the claim by 11 August, describing the initiative as a “moral duty”.

Ryszard Czarnecki, a Law and Justice MEP, said: “If Jews have gotten compensation - and rightly so - for loss of property, why shouldn't we also make claims?”.

The former Communist regime in Poland waived WWII claims from Germany in 1953, but Antoni Macierewicz, the Polish defence minister, said on Tuesday that this commitment was invalid because it was made by a “Soviet puppet state.”

Note EU-Digest: The Polish government is not acting in a mature and professional way. Today they also have very little support from within their own voters base and they better watch out what will happen in the next general elections. This is also seems to be one of the main reasons they want to take control of the judicial system in Poland.
 
Read more: WWII: Poland to open new front in EU clash

The Netherlands - Pesticide Contamination : Dozens more egg producers shut down as pesticide scandal spreads

The Dutch food and product safety board has stopped ‘dozens’ more poultry farms from sending their eggs to market because they may be contaminated with the pesticide fipronil. Tests for traces of the pesticide, used to control lice in poultry, are now being carried out on eggs, hens and chicken manure at several dozen farms, the NVWA said in a statement.

On Monday, the NVWA shut down seven poultry farms after fipronil was found in samples of eggs.

The chemical is primarily used as an insecticide, particularly to kill fleas, and is classed as a ‘moderately hazardous pesticide’ by the World Health Organisation.

In the Netherlands it is banned in the poultry sector. The NVWA, which took the action after a tip-off from the Belgian authorities, said in a statement there is no danger to human health. According to regional paper de Stentor, the contamination may have come from a pest control company in Gelderland which used the pesticide to deal with chicken lice.

The NVWA says it has not so far found concentrations of the chemical which would prove a direct danger to human health. However, continued consumption of eggs containing fipronil ‘could have damaging effect.

The anti-lice pesticide at the centre of an egg safety scandal in the Netherlands may have been used on Dutch farms as early as June 2016, the Volkskrant said on Wednesday.

The company at the centre of the scandal, Barneveld-based Chickfriend, was treating poultry for lice last year and there is no reason to believe that the product did not contain fipronil at that time, the paper said.

The Dutch food and product safety board NVWA told the paper that eggs containing the banned pesticide fipronil could have been sold in Dutch shops since then, but said: ‘we have no way of checking because the eggs have been eaten’.

Chickfriend is now thought to have bought the pesticide from a Belgian supplier and investigators are now trying to find out if the Dutch firm was aware the product, said to be based on natural oils such as eucalyptus, contained fipronil. The pesticide is classed as ‘moderately hazardous pesticide’ by the World Health Organisation.

Note EU-Digest:  Reviewing Chemicals Product Lists of chemical products sold in the EU reveals Fipronil is among one of the many poisonous (to humans) products sold by the US based company Dow Chemicals in the EU. The EU authorities and local European governments need to do a better job at overcoming the intense lobby efforts, of mainly US based companies, to sell harmful products like Fipronil in the EU.

Read more: Dozens more egg producers shut down as pesticide scandal spreads - DutchNews.nl

Turkey coup trial: Almost 500 in court amid protests

Almost 500 people arrested after last year's failed coup in Turkey have appeared in court accused of taking part in the plot. Some of the handcuffed defendants were jeered as they were individually escorted into court by police and armed guards in front of TV cameras.

The trial focuses on events at the Akinci airbase which it is alleged was the plotters' headquarters.

It is taking place in a purpose-built courtroom outside the capital Ankara.

The defendants face charges from attempting to assassinate the president to murder. As some arrived at court they were met by protesters chanting "We want the death penalty!"

Read more: Turkey coup trial: Almost 500 in court amid protests - BBC News

The Netherlands: Fire shuts down Europe′s largest oil refinery in the Netherlands

Royal Dutch Shell has suspended loadings of oil products from the Pernis refinery after a fire caused the shut down of most of its production. The extent of damage is being investigated.

The night sky over the port of Rotterdam was alight after the blaze broke out Saturday at the high-voltage power station at Shell's Pernis refinery.

Shell spokesman Thijs van Velzen said the flames were extinguished by Sunday morning. Nobody was injured. Firefighters brought the fire under control by around 6 am (0400 GMT/UTC).

Read more: Fire shuts down Europe′s largest oil refinery in the Netherlands | News | DW | 30.07.2017

US playing with fire re:Sanctions: Russia is retaliating against new US sanctions in a big way - by Zack Beauchamp

Russia will force the US diplomatic mission in the country to eliminate hundreds of people from its workforce by September 1, President Vladimir Putin told state TV in an interview that aired on Sunday

"More than 1,000 workers — diplomats and support staff — were working and are still working in Russia; 755 must stop their activity in the Russian Federation," Putin said, per Reuters.

This does not mean, as early news reports suggested, that 755 US diplomats will be expelled from the country entirely — but it is a serious cut to America’s diplomatic presence in Russia.

The order is retaliation, plain and simple. On Thursday night, Congress overwhelmingly passed a new package of sanctions on Russia as punishment for the nation’s interference in the US election.

Late on Friday, the Trump administration announced its intention to sign the sanctions bill into law. The diplomatic staffing order is Putin showing he hasn’t been cowed.

This is very much not normal; countries do not generally force other countries to limit their diplomatic presence so sharply, absent a major crisis in relations.

It suggests instead that the pro-Russian stance Trump has taken, at least rhetorically, is not paying off — and that US-Russia relations are likely to keep getting worse for the foreseeable future.

Read more: Russia is retaliating against new US sanctions in a big way - Vox

Poland EU starts action against Poland over judiciary reforms

The European Commission launched legal action on Saturday against what it sees as Polish government attempts to undermine the independence of judges.

It has given Warsaw a month to comply.

 EU commissioners decided to launch the "infringement procedure" for violating European Union law at a meeting on Wednesday, the first step in a legal process that may end at the bloc's top court

A Polish deputy foreign minister said on Saturday the Commission's decision was "unjustified" because the organisation of the legal systems in EU members was up to member states and not EU institutions.

Read more: EU starts action against Poland over judiciary reforms >