Geert Wilders

Wilders started off his political development under his mentor, Frits Bolkestein.

Wilders was born on 6 September 1963 in the city of Venlo, in the province of Limburg.[25] He is the youngest of four children,[26] and was raised Catholic. He was born to a Dutch father and a mother born in colonial Indonesia,[27][28] whose background was mixed Dutch and Indonesian.[29][30] His father worked as a manager for the printing and copying manufacturing company Océ,[31] and had hidden from the Germans during the Second World War, an experience so traumatizing that he refused to physically enter Germany even forty years later.[32]

Wilders received his secondary education at the Mavo and Havo middle school and high school in Venlo. Reflecting passions that came to the fore later in his career, Wilders took a course in health insurance at the Stichting Opleiding Sociale Verzekeringen in Amsterdam and earned several law certificates at the Dutch Open University.

Wilders' goal after he graduated from secondary school was to see the world. Because he did not have enough money to travel to Australia, his preferred destination, he went to Israel instead[32] and volunteered for a year in a moshav, Tomer, on the West Bank.[33] With the money he saved, he travelled to the neighbouring Arab countries, and was moved by the lack of democracy in the region. When he returned to the Netherlands, he retained Israeli ideas about counter-terrorism and a "special feeling of solidarity" for the country.[34]

Living in Utrecht, Wilders initially worked in the health insurance industry. His interest in the subject led him into politics as a speech-writer for the Netherlands' People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.[32][35] He started his formal political career as a parliamentary assistant to the party leader Frits Bolkestein, specialising in foreign policy. He held this job from 1990 to 1998. During this time Geert Wilders travelled extensively,[36] visiting countries all across the Middle East, including Iran, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Israel. Bolkestein was the first Dutch politician to address the consequences of mass immigration for Dutch society, including a sharp criticism of Muslim immigrants. He set an example for Wilders not only in his ideas but also in his confrontational speaking style.[32][36] Political analyst Anno Bunnik later described Wilders as a "sorcerer's apprentice" to Bolkestein.[37]

On 10 November 2004, two suspected attackers were captured after an hour-long siege of a building in The Hague. They were in possession of three grenades and were accused of planning to murder Wilders as well as a fellow MP, Ayaan Hirsi Ali.[38] The suspects were presumed to be members of what the Dutch intelligence agency, the General Intelligence and Security Service, has termed the Hofstad Network (Hofstadgroep). Since this incident Wilders has been under constant security protection because of frequent threats to his life.[39] In September 2007, a Dutch woman was sentenced to a one-year prison term for sending more than 100 threatening emails to Wilders.[40] In 2009, a rapper from Rotterdam was sentenced to 80 hours community service and a two-month suspended jail term for threatening Wilders in a rap song.[41] Wilders was listed as the most threatened politician in the Netherlands in 2008.[42]

Wilders is said to have been "deprived... of a personal life for his... hatred of Islam".[32] He is constantly accompanied by a permanent security detail of about six plainclothes police officers, and does not receive visitors unless they are cleared in advance, thoroughly searched, and escorted at all times. He lives in a state-provided safe house which is outfitted to be bulletproof, is heavily guarded by police, and has a panic room. He is driven from his home to his offices in parliament in an armored police vehicle, and wears a bulletproof vest.[43][44] His office is located in the most isolated corner of the Dutch Parliament building, and was chosen because potential terrorists can get to it through only one corridor, making it easier for his bodyguards to repel an attack.[45] He is married to Krisztina Wilders (née Márfai), a former diplomat from Hungary of Jewish origin.[46] The restrictions on his life, he said, are "a situation that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy".[30]

Krisztina and Geert Wilders on Prinsjesdag in 2014

In January 2010, Karen Geurtsen, a Dutch journalist from the magazine HP-De Tijd, revealed a painful breach of security. She spent four months working undercover, posing as an intern, for the PVV party. She claimed that she had had unchecked access to Wilders. "I could have killed him", were the first words of the article that she published about this operation. According to her, she had "dozens" of opportunities to take his life.[47] In July 2010, after Wilders complained that his security was inadequate, the Special Security Assignments Brigade, a special unit of Dutch military police, made four attempts to smuggle a firearm into the heavily guarded offices of Wilders' Freedom Party, two of which were successful. Following these breaches, security at the offices was increased.[48][49]

In June 2011, disclosure of Wilder's personal finances indicated that he founded a self-administered company one year earlier without reporting this via the public records of the House of Representatives, which he, as a parliamentarian, should have done.[50]

Wilders has been dying his hair since at least the mid 1990s having previously gotten his hair cut at a barber shop near Utrecht Central Station until this was stopped due to security concerns. As a result of aging, Wilders' dark roots no longer show up due to increased graying.[51] Wilders has acquired nicknames such as "Mozart" and "Captain Peroxide" because of his flamboyant platinum blond hairstyle.[35] Radio Netherlands calls him "the most famous bleach-blond since Marilyn Monroe".[52]

In 1997, Wilders was elected for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) to the municipal council of Utrecht, the fourth largest city of the Netherlands.[35][36] He lived in Kanaleneiland, a suburb with cheap social housing and high apartment blocks, which has a relatively high number of immigrants. While a city councilor, Wilders was mugged in his own neighbourhood; some have speculated that this may have catalysed his political transformation.[32] He was not rewarded for his time on the municipal council of Utrecht, for in the following elections he would score well below the national average in the University city.[55]

A year later, he was elected to the Netherlands' national parliament,[35] but his first four years in parliament drew little attention.[36] However, his appointment in 2002 as a public spokesman for the VVD led Wilders to become more well known for his outspoken criticism of Islamic extremism. Tensions immediately developed within the party, as Wilders found himself to be to the right of most members, and challenged the party line in his public statements.[26] He was expelled from the VVD parliamentary party, and in September 2004, Wilders left the VVD, having been a member since 1989, to form his own political party, Groep Wilders, later renamed the Party for Freedom.[56] The crunch issue with the VVD party line was about his refusal to endorse the party's position that European Union accession negotiations must be started with Turkey.[36]

The Party for Freedom's political platform often overlaps those of the assassinated Rotterdam politician Pim Fortuyn and his Pim Fortuyn List.[35] After his death, Fortuyn's impact remained, as more and more politicians sought to gain political mileage by directly confronting topics such as a ban on immigration that were, from a politically correct point of view, considered unmentionable in the Netherlands until Fortuyn came on the scene and upended the Dutch tradition of consensus politics with an anti-immigration stance. Wilders would position himself to inherit Fortuyn's constituency.[57] The Party for Freedom called for a €16 billion tax reduction, a far stricter policy toward recreational drug use, investing more in roads and other infrastructure, building nuclear power plants and including animal rights in the Dutch constitution.[58] In the 2006 Dutch parliamentary election, their first parliamentary election, the Party for Freedom won 9 out of the 150 open seats.[59]

In March 2009, in a party meeting in Venlo, Wilders said "I want to be prime minister", believing the PVV will eventually become the Netherlands' biggest party. "At some point it's going to happen and then it will be a big honour to fulfil the post of prime minister".[60]

Polling conducted throughout March 2009 by Maurice de Hond indicated the Party for Freedom was the most popular parliamentary party. The polls predicted that the party would take 21% of the national vote, winning 32 out of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament.[61] If the polling results were replicated in an election, Wilders would be a major power broker. Under such circumstances, there would also be some likelihood of him becoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands.[62][63] This has been partially attributed to timely prosecution attempts against him for hate speech and the travel ban imposed on him by the United Kingdom,[64] as well as dissatisfaction with the Dutch government's response to the global financial crisis of 2008–2009.[61]

Wilders (right) with the leaders of VVD and CDA following the 2010 election.

On 3 March 2010, elections for the local councils were held in the municipalities of The Netherlands. The PVV only contested these local elections in the Dutch towns The Hague and Almere, because of a shortage of good candidates. The big gains that were scored indicated that the party and Wilders might dominate the political scene in the run-up to the parliamentary elections scheduled on 9 June 2010. The PVV won in Almere and came second to the Dutch Labour party in The Hague. In Almere, the PVV won 21 percent of the vote to Labour's 18 percent, preliminary results showed. In The Hague, the PVV had 8 seats—second to Labour with 10 seats.

On 8 March 2010, Wilders announced that he would take a seat on the Hague city council, after it became clear he won 13,000 preference votes. Earlier he had said he would not take up a seat if he won.[65][66] In the parliamentary elections on 9 June 2010, the PVV increased its number of seats from 9 to 24 (out of 150), getting 15.5% of the vote. This made the PVV the third party in size. With a fragmented parliament, at least three parties were required for an absolute majority. A coalition of VVD and Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) was negotiated with parliamentary support by the PVV. The PVV did not become part of the government formed by VVD and CDA but actively participated in the negotiations and thus policy decisions and – as part of the outcome agreed that they would not support any motion to dismiss ministers concerning topics listed in a so-called "support agreement" – much like the Danish model where the Danish People's Party plays a similar role.[67] The very fact of the participation of Wilders' party in these negotiations caused fierce discussions in political circles.

On 21 April 2012, Wilders withdrew his support from the Rutte cabinet because of new austerity measures that were about to be taken. Commenting on his withdrawal Wilders blamed the "European dictates" pointing to the 3% rule on budget deficit for European countries although his party had supported these rules earlier on. The cabinet blamed Wilders for what they call his "lack of political will" and "political cowardice" in regards to addressing the economic woes of the Netherlands.[3] Wilders' withdrawal from the negotiations led to new elections in September. Wilders and the PVV ran on a campaign to have the Netherlands withdraw from the European Union and for a return to the guilder. The PVV won 10.1% of the vote and 15 seats in parliament, a loss of 9 seats.[68][69]

In the March 2014 local elections, Wilders' Party for Freedom only took part in two municipalities, The Hague and Almere, and suffered minor losses in both. Nevertheless, international news coverage of the elections was dominated by Wilders after he led his supporters in a provocative chant (calling for "fewer, fewer ... Moroccans") at an election night party rally.[70][71][72][73][74] This eventually led to a new trial against him (see § Trials).

In the May 2014 elections for the European Parliament, the Party for Freedom received 17.0% of the vote and four seats, a slight gain compared to the 13.3% of the vote the party had received in the previous parliamentary elections. In the run-up to and aftermath of those European elections, Wilders worked with the French Front National's Marine Le Pen to try to form a new parliamentary group in the European Parliament. They first announced their collaboration during a joint press conference in November 2013, where Wilders vowed that "today is the beginning of the liberation from the European elite, the monster in Brussels".[19][20] Wilders visited the Sweden Democrats party and spoke with the Austrian Freedom party's leader Heinz-Christian Strache to help bring about the alliance, even while rejecting Hungary's Jobbik and Germany's NPD because he wanted to exclude "right-wing extremist and racist" parties.[75] Three days after the elections finished, Le Pen and Wilders presented another press conference, this time with Matteo Salvini of Italy's Northern League, Harald Vilimsky of Austria's Freedom Party and Gerolf Annemans of Belgium's Flemish Interest party, to promise that the parliamentary group would be formed.[21] Eventually, however, the effort failed because it could only unite parties from six EU member states,[76] one fewer than is required by parliamentary rules. This was in part due to a refusal to include the Greek Golden Dawn or Poland's Congress of the New Right, and in part because parties like the Danish People's party and the True Finns refused to join.[21][22]

In the March 2015 provincial elections, the Party for Freedom received 11.7% of the vote nationally, slipping slightly from the 12.4% of the vote it had gotten in the 2011 provincial elections.

The PVV contested the 2017 general election with Wilders at its helm. Although the PVV led other parties in opinion polls most of the time, all major parties ruled out forming coalitions with the PVV, effectively locking it out from any chance of taking part in, let alone leading, the next government.[77] This raised the prospect of the PVV being locked out of power even if it won the most seats. Wilders hinted that a "revolution" would occur if his party won the most seats and was still shut out of government.[78]

The PVV ended up achieving second place after winning 20 seats, 5 more than in 2012.[79]

In the 2021 Dutch general election the PVV received 10.79% of the total votes cast. This earned them 17 seats in the House of Representatives.[80] Responding to reporters who asked what his reaction was to the election results, Wilders attributed the loss of 3 seats to a recent lack of important events involving Islam and immigration.[81]

Wilders has become a controversial figure[32][82] with polarized opinions[83] on him from the world news media. Regarding his reputation in the Netherlands, Wilders stated in 2009, "Half of Holland loves me and half of Holland hates me. There is no in-between." In 2005, the Dutch public expressed mixed reactions to Wilders' general agenda, with 53% calling it "implausible" and 47% more supportive.[84] He has been described as populist,[12][13][14] labelled as both "extreme right"[85] and far-right,[17] and defended by others as a mainstream politician with legitimate concerns[12] saying that such labels are shallow smear attempts. Wilders himself rejects the labels and has called such descriptions "scandalous".[12] He has been accused of building his popularity on fear and resentment[86][87] and vociferously defended for having the courage to talk openly about the problems unfettered immigration brings with it and the incompatibility of fundamentalist Islam with western values.[88]

On 15 December 2007, Wilders was declared "Politician of the Year" by NOS-radio, a mainstream Dutch radio station. The parliamentary press praised his ability to dominate political discussion and to attract the debate and to get into publicity with his well-timed one-liners.[89] The editors eventually gave the title to Wilders because he was the only one who scored high among both the press and the general public.[90][91]

In December 2009, Wilders came in second in two polls in the Netherlands for Politician of the Year. A panel of Dutch television viewers praised him as "the second best" politician this year (after his outspoken critic Alexander Pechtold), while his colleagues in parliament named him "the second worst" (after Rita Verdonk).[92]

Some Muslim critics of Wilders accuse him of using Quranic verses out of context, and of manipulating verses to have a different meaning than the verses intended to.[93] Wilders' views on Islam prompted the Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, to reprimand him.[94]

Editorials by The Montreal Gazette, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and The New York Times have accused Wilders of hypocrisy given that, in their view, Wilders has called for the ban of the sale of the Quran while simultaneously arguing for his own personal freedom of speech.[95][96][97] In a speech during a Dutch parliamentary debate, Wilders elaborated that he calls for the consistent application of Dutch laws restricting any act of expression that incites violence.[98] Ideally, he would prefer to see nearly all such laws abolished.[84][99]

Wilders has also been compared to the assassinated fellow critic of Islam and filmmaker Theo van Gogh, but he does not see himself as taking on van Gogh's mantle.[30] Wilders has stated that he supports the free speech rights of his critics, saying that "An Imam who wants a politician dead is—however reprehensible—allowed to say so".[84] He has responded to critics' comments of racism and Islamophobia by stating, "I don't hate Muslims. I hate their book and their ideology".[4]

In February 2010, the trailer of a newly published online satirical video on the website of the Dutch radio station FunX, which targets a young urban audience, spoofed a murder attempt on Wilders.[100]

In July 2010, the magazine Inspire announced that Wilders, as well as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Kurt Westergaard and Salman Rushdie, were mentioned on a "death list" of an international Islamist terrorist network.[101]

Shortly before this publication, it was revealed in The Hague that Dutch law enforcement officers succeeded twice in smuggling a firearm into the parliament buildings and into the guarded headquarters of Wilders' party. This check was carried out by the Special Security Assignments Brigade BSB, a special unit of the Dutch Military Police. The test was carried out following a complaint from Wilders about his security being inadequate.[102]

On 11 September 2010, 2,000 people gathered close by the site of a planned Muslim community center near the site of the World Trade Center attacks, on 11 September 2001, where they were addressed by Wilders who flew from The Netherlands to urge the crowd: "This is where we have (to) draw the line. We must never give a free hand to those who want to subjugate us," Wilders added. "Draw this line so that New York... will never become New Mecca."[103]

Wilders was extensively discussed in American diplomatic cables, released by WikiLeaks in December 2010. In a briefing to president Barack Obama, he was described as "no friend of the US: he opposes Dutch military involvement in Afghanistan; he believes development assistance is money wasted; he opposes NATO missions outside 'allied' territory; he is against most EU initiatives; and, most troubling, he foments fear and hatred of immigrants."[104]

In July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik, the man who carried out the 2011 Norway attacks, expressed admiration for Geert Wilders and the Party for Freedom. Wilders immediately distanced himself strongly from Breivik.[105]

On 2 October 2011 Radio Netherlands Worldwide reported that a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) Frits Bolkestein, who is sometime called the 'mentor' of Geert Wilders, "does not share his views". He reportedly said that "Wilders says things that are just not right and I think he totally exaggerates." While giving his opinion on burqa ban Mr Bolkestein said that he "disagrees with the recent introduction of a burqa ban, an idea championed by Geert Wilders." The Netherlands, he said, is the third European country to introduce such a ban after France and Belgium. "A ban makes martyrs of the few burqa wearers there are in the Netherlands", he said.[106]

In March 2014 and during a party meeting in The Hague on the evening of local elections, he sparked widespread controversy when he asked his attending supporters "Do you want, in this city, and in the Netherlands, more or fewer Moroccans?", after which they chanted "Fewer! Fewer!". Wilders' response was "Then we'll fix it!". This action led several PVV representatives to resign, among whom two of the party's members of Parliament (Roland van Vliet and Joram van Klaveren), the party's leader in the European Parliament (Laurence Stassen), and a number of its provincial legislators and municipal councillors.[107] Many politicians denounced what happened. In response, a number of young Moroccans launched a social media campaign called 'Born here', in which they posted pictures of themselves alongside their Dutch passports.[108]

In October 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sued Wilders after he posted a series of tweets against Erdoğan and urged NATO to take Turkey out of the bloc.[109] Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that a legal case "against a Dutch politician that could possibly even lead to a curtailment of freedom of expression is not acceptable."[110]

Fitna is a 2008 short film written and commissioned by Wilders that explores Koranic-inspired motivations for terrorism, Islamic universalism, and Islam in the Netherlands. Its title comes from the Arabic word fitna, which means a "test of faith in times of trial", or refers to a situation where one's faith is tested.[138]

It is the subject of an international controversy and debate on free speech.[139] Despite the legal troubles surrounding the film, Wilders insists that before he released it, he consulted numerous lawyers in the field, who found nothing worth prosecution. Jordan has summoned Wilders to court, with the film deemed to "incite hatred".[140] Militant Sunni Islamist group Al-Qaeda issued a call to murder Wilders after its release.[17]

In the spring of 2009, Wilders launched the "Facing Jihad World Tour", a series of screenings of Fitna to public officials and influential organizations around the globe, starting in Rome.[141] In the United States, Wilders showed the film to the United States Congress on 26 February, having been invited by Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl.[142] Around 40 people attended the screening.[62] American Muslims protested, but the groups said that they supported his right of free speech while still condemning his opinions.[142] Wilders appeared before the National Press Club and the Republican Jewish Coalition that week as well.[143] Similar attempts in Britain led to a travel ban,[17] and legislative blocks have prevented an appearance in Denmark.[144]

In 2012, Wilders was invited by the Q Society of Australia to visit Australia. In August 2012 he applied for a visa to give two speeches in October 2012. His staff and police protection officers were granted visas within three days, but Wilders was not.[189] On 2 October 2012 Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, while stating that Wilders' views were offensive, stated that he would not block the visa application. Bowen stated:

"I have decided not to intervene to deny him a visa because I believe that our democracy is strong enough, our multiculturalism robust enough and our commitment to freedom of speech entrenched enough that our society can withstand the visit of a fringe commentator from the other side of the world".[190]

On the same day, the Q Society put out a press release criticizing the delays in issuing a visa, saying that Chris Bowen's announcement was "too little, too late" and announcing that Wilders' visit would be pushed back to February 2013 as there were still no visa documents available.[191]

In March 2010, Wilders was told he is "not welcome" in the western German tourist resort of Monschau in the Eifel area, after he spent a weekend there, along with several armed bodyguards. Mayor Margareta Ritter (CDU) said she was concerned that his presence tainted her town with the suspicion that it was sympathetic to his views. As a result, Monschau was said to have been unfairly connected with "extremism" in the European press.

"Anyone who pollutes the integration debate in the Netherlands with poisonous right-wing populism as Wilders has, and advocates prohibition of the Koran by a comparison with Hitler's Mein Kampf, is not welcome in Monschau. I wanted to distinguish Monschau from that."

Ritter didn't say whether Wilders was enjoying a short vacation in her town or had been meeting with like-minded people.[13][14][192][193][194] A demonstration to support Wilders was announced to take place in Berlin on 17 April.[195]

The same year local Berlin politician for the CDU René Stadtkewitz was expelled from the CDU after he invited Wilders to Germany to hold a speech.[196] In October 2010, Wilders supported the founding of Stadtkewitz's new German Freedom Party.

In April 2015, Wilders held a speech for Pegida in Dresden.[197]

Wilders is regarded as part of the international counter-jihad movement,[198] and as "the most successful counter-jihadist politician in the world".[199] He is also described as the "main counter-jihad standard bearer across Europe ... feted by campaigning organisations in North America".[199] In July 2010, Wilders announced the International Freedom Alliance, a network of groups and individuals who "are fighting for freedom against Islam".[200][201][202]

Wilders plans IFA branches in the United States, Canada, Britain, France and Germany by late 2010. "The message, 'stop Islam, defend freedom', is a message that's not only important for the Netherlands but for the whole free Western world", Wilders stated in an address to reporters at the Dutch Parliament. Wilders also stressed that the group would not contain far-right extremists.[203]

On 6 August 2010, Wilders, who had become a regular guest with American conservatives and libertarians, announced that he would speak at a rally on 11 September in New York to protest the plans for Park51, a Muslim community center with a prayer space to be built near the World Trade Center site. The rally, to be held on the ten-year anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks, was organised by Stop Islamization of America, which was supported by former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who was originally announced as a speaker at the event, but never confirmed his appearance and cancelled a video appearance.[204] According to SIOA's website world leaders, prominent politicians and 9/11 family members would be speaking at the rally, but Wilders was not mentioned by name,[205][206] though he did attend as he had announced.[207]

In political circles in The Netherlands, the announcement caused widespread irritation about his plan.[208] Christian Democrat senator Hans Hillen remarked that Wilders' words could endanger Dutch interests.[209] Former NATO general secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer advised Wilders not to make a speech, arguing that the international public does not know who is in the Dutch cabinet and who is in parliament and thus Wilders' speech could be mistaken as an official statement of the Dutch government. Also Christian Democrat party leader and acting Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen issued a warning.[210][211]

Also, the Dutch Foreign Ministry allegedly would have issued guidelines to its embassies on how to react to questions about the role being played by the PVV and Wilders in the formation of a new government. On 10 August 2010, the website of Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad published the ministry memo. The ministry itself however had declined "to confirm or deny" the authenticity of these guidelines. One question posed is how Wilders could be taking part in negotiations on forming a government coalition when he has been indicted for inciting hatred and discrimination, and for insulting a group of persons. Other questions covered possible bans on the building of new mosques, on the Quran and on Islamic schools in the Netherlands. The memo stressed that such bans would breach the Dutch constitution.[212]

Wilders spoke on Thursday, 12 May 2011, at Cornerstone Church in Madison, Tennessee, at the Tennessee Freedom Coalition inaugural Signature Series event.[213]

In May 2015, Geert Wilders was invited to an art exhibit presented by Stop Islamization of America in Garland, Texas, that offered a $10,000 prize for the best drawing of Muhammad. Towards the end of the event, two gunmen opened fire outside, injuring a police officer before being shot dead by other police officers guarding the center.[214][215][216][217]

Several groups and persons in the Netherlands have called for legal action against Wilders, while others, including Christian fundamentalists, defended his right to free speech.[139] On 15 August 2007, a representative of the Prosecutors' Office in Amsterdam declared that dozens of reports against Wilders had been filed, and that they were all being considered.[218] Attempts to prosecute Wilders under Dutch anti-hate speech laws in June 2008 failed, with the public prosecutor's office stating that Wilders' comments contributed to the debate on Islam in Dutch society and also had been made outside parliament. The office released a statement reading: "That comments are hurtful and offensive for a large number of Muslims does not mean that they are punishable. Freedom of expression fulfils an essential role in public debate in a democratic society. That means that offensive comments can be made in a political debate."[139][219][220]

On 21 January 2009, a three-judge court ordered prosecutors to try him.[220][221]

The Middle East Forum established a Legal Defence Fund for Wilders's defence.[222] The New York Times ran an op-ed criticizing his views and arguing that "for a man who calls for a ban on the Koran to act as the champion of free speech is a bit rich", concluding, however that the lawsuit against Wilders might not be "a good thing for democracy", because it made him "look more important than he should be."[96]

A survey by Angus Reid Global Monitor found that public opinion is deeply split on the prosecution, with 50% supporting Wilders and 43% opposed.[219] However, as of 2009, public support for the Party for Freedom had greatly increased since Wilders' legal troubles began, with the Party for Freedom virtually tied with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy to be the third most popular party.[86][223] According to Radio Netherlands, "Dutch politicians themselves seem to be keeping quiet on the issue; they are probably worried that media attention will only serve to make the controversial politician more popular".[82]

In late October 2010, the Dutch court approved a request from Geert Wilders to have new judges appointed forcing the court to retry the case.[224] On 7 February 2011, Wilders returned to the court room in order that his legal team could present evidence from Islamic experts which the court rejected in 2010, including Mohammed Bouyeri, who murdered film-maker Theo van Gogh, and Dutch academic Hans Jansen.[225]

On 23 June 2011, Wilders was acquitted of all charges. A Dutch court said that his speech was legitimate political debate, but on the edge.[226] Because both the public prosecutor and the defence requested complete acquittal, the verdict will most likely not be appealed.[227][228]

In the Netherlands, Wilders and his movement have been discussed in historical and psychological perspectives. Dutch philosopher Rob Riemen characterised Wilders and his movement in 2010 as "the prototype of contemporary fascism" after having defined fascism itself as "the politisation of the resentment of the man in the crowd", in line with previous definitions by Menno ter Braak, Albert Camus and Thomas Mann.[232] Historian Robin te Slaa of NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies disagreed and concluded in 2012 that Wilders is no fascist in the historical sense. Wilders and his party do not formally subscribe to classical fascist tenets such as biological racism, social darwinism, an autocratic state, rejection of democracy and of individualism, a cult of autocratic one-man leadership and a Third Way economic policy, in between capitalism and Marxism. Instead, Wilders is seen as a libertarian proponent of laissez-faire economic policy, personal autonomy, women's equality and the emancipation of homosexuals.[233] However, te Slaa noted the extreme right-wing populism, the proposed discrimination of muslims, the islamophobia and the rejection of the legal state by Wilders. He cited Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte's characterisation of Wilders as a "political pyromaniac" because of the absence of practical solutions in Wilders' disputed islamophobic proposals.[233]

• Oriana Fallaci Free Speech Award in 2009[234]
• Nominated for Sakharov Prize in 2010[235]
• Dutch Politician of the Year 2010[236]
• Dutch Politician of the Year 2013[237]
• Dutch Politician of the Year 2015[238]
• Dutch Politician of the Year 2016[239]
• The Hungarian Order of Merit in 2022[240]

• Criticism of multiculturalism
• Multiculturalism in the Netherlands
• Philo-Semitism
• Bibliography of books critical of Islam
• Stephen Robert Morse, whose film EuroTrump covered Wilders in the run-up to the 2017 election

• (in Dutch) Parlement.com biography

• Geert Wilders Weblog (in Dutch)
• Geert Wilders (in Dutch), House of Representatives biography
• Geert Wilders, collected news and coverage at The New York Times