Dutch Govt Should Condemn Xenophobic Site - Council of Europe

A close up view of a page of a website set up by the right-wing Dutch Freedom Party (PVV)

The Council of Europe has demanded that the Dutch government distance itself from the notorious anti-immigration website created by the far-right PVV party of Geert Wilders.

The website is widely regarded as xenophobic because it solicits and disseminates negative reports about citizens of central and eastern European countries working in the Netherlands, the Council of Europe believes.

"I am concerned because (the Internet site) is hosted by a political party which is linked to the governing coalition," Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland pointed out in a letter addressed to Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has declined to comment about the site, saying it is a party rather than a government matter.

The site, titled "Complaints about Central and Eastern Europeans," boasts slogans such as "Do you have problems with people from Central and Eastern Europe?" and "Have you lost your job because of a Pole, a Bulgarian, a Romanian? We want to know." It also displays media headlines reporting how Eastern Europeans commit more and more crime.

The PVV party's website has drawn wide criticism from Central and Eastern Europeans, including Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry and the country's MEPs. European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding described the website as a call for intolerance.

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