Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders announced Tuesday his visit to an animal sanctuary had been cancelled after threats from “anti-fascist” protesters.
The shelter in the city of Zaandam said that since the visit was announced it received a large number of complaints, and two of its staff were harassed in the street.
Left wing protesters also left critical comments on the shelter’s Facebook page, and an anti-Wilders sticker was placed on an “animal ambulance”.
De Telegraaf says they finally cancelled the visit after receiving two emails with a “threatening” tone on Tuesday morning.
Mr. Wilders took to Twitter to condemn the harassment of the shelter, saying: “The anti-fascists are the fascists nowadays.”
De antifascisten zijn de fascisten van nu. https://t.co/hlqxLRtMXy
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) March 7, 2017
He said the shelter had cancelled because “the leftist terror group Anti-Fascist Action has intimidated the staff”.
The leader of the Freedom Party would have visited the shelter with MPs Dion Graus and Vicky Maeijer.
Breitbart London reported Tuesday on how Mr. Wilders and his party were influencing other politicians in the Netherlands and changing the political narrative, with the leader of a mainstream conservative party calling for children to sing the national anthem in school.
Sybrand Buma, leader of the Christian Democrats, said his party wanted to “see respect for the national anthem. Young people should be taught respect for the king and queen.”
“It is not at all obvious that children learn the national anthem today. Once, we learnt the national anthem. And when it was sung, we stood up,” Mr. Buma added.
Mr. Wilders’ party is presently virtually tied in the polls with the governing People’s Party of Freedom and Democracy ahead of next week’s election.
Even if they emerge as the largest party in the Dutch parliament, however, few others will likely form a coalition with them, thus freezing Mr. Wilders out of government.
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