Dutch Far-Right MP Quits over Outrageous Website

Geert Wilders (C), leader of Party for Freedom, arrives at the traditional New Years reception of Dutch Queen Beatrix for Dutch guests in the Palace at the Dam Square in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 17 January 2012. EPA/BGNES

Hero Brinkman, a lawmaker with Dutch far-right Freedom Party (PVV) has left his parliamentary formation, potentially jeopardizing the ruling majority.

Brinkman has called the party undemocratic, criticizing its recently launched website that solicits complaints about Central and Eastern Europeans.

"All my attempts to democratize the party have failed. I disagree with the Freedom Party strategy and I disapprove of the way the party writes people off," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Labor migration is legal, and if you have complaints about crime you should go to the police," Brinkman pointed out, as cited by Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

The PVV party of Geert Wilders supports Prime Minister Mark Rutte's minority government, voting with Rutte on key issues to give it a one-seat majority in the 150-seat parliament. The party is the third largest with 24 members.

PVV's website, entitled "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.