Budapest; Hugo Scheltema on thin diplomatic ice
Last month, on 24 August, the Dutch ambassador to Hungary, Hugo Gajus Scheltema, gave an interview to 168 Ora Magazine ahead of his retirement. The interview has caused an uproar in diplomatic circles, unsurprisingly, after Scheltema likened Hungarians to "terrorists".
Published: September 7, 2017, 10:12 am
Orban orders intelligence services to map Soros networks
Orban: 'The Hungarian model works'
Young Dutch anti-immigration politician Baudet overtakes Wilders
Wilders: 'Thank God for the Olymics!'
Wilders calls cultural, security developments in EU 'catastrophic'
Dutch report uncovers unpleasant facts about mosque in The HaguePéter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for Hungary, has threatened to recall the Hungarian ambassador to the Netherlands “for an indefinite period,” together with “political and diplomatic steps” if the Netherlands does not issue a formal apology soon.
In the interview with 168 Ora, Scheltema claimed the Dutch nation “had no roots” and insulted the Hungarians for actually having roots. “I asked [György Fajcsák] to tell me where the Hungarians came from. The Netherlands have no such roots, for us it is of little importance, but for Hungarians, it is very important.“
Scheltema’s complete disregard for history and factual knowledge about the Dutch parliamentary set-up is even more surprising.
“Here [in Hungary] only pro or contra positions are possible, someone is with us, or against us. Classical Marxist worldview.” Hungary famously suffered under Communism. In The Netherlands, moreover, the main parties have all ruled out a coalition with the party of Geert Wilders, the PVV, rubbishing the Dutch ambassador’s claims.
“In Holland, we always look for a compromise: have a little of this, lose a little of that. There are four or five parties in the governing coalition, each of which has to give and take a little. It may take months of negotiations, but eventually, we find a compromise,” he claimed.
But contrary to what Scheltema posits, a five party government is an exception in Dutch politics – it happened only twice after 1945, and the first time it failed to fulfill its four year mandate. Since 1977, all Dutch governments have consisted of either two or three parties. What’s more, the reason the Netherlands are now in the fifth month of negotiations to form a new, possibly five party, government, is precisely because those parties are so unwilling to compromise with Wilders.
Scheltema seemed determined to demonstrate yet further how little he really knows about his own country. On immigration, he proceeded to lecture Hungarians. “There are no migrants in Hungary, it is a homogenous people. In the Netherlands, mainly because of our colonial past, there are many immigrants, we are an open society, we welcome the arrivals.“ But a book by nationalist writer Joost Niemoeller, called Angry and published this year, immediately made it on the bestseller list.
In Amsterdam, the middle class can no longer afford to live in the city center and the cheaper neighbourhoods where they have moved have been rapidly filling with families from Turkey, Morocco, Suriname and the Dutch Antilles, creating huge resentment against migrants as well as the elites.
“The Netherlands is a segregated society,” a leftist journalist recently told Bloomberg. “It’s not just black vs. white, it’s also higher-educated vs. lower-educated. Because there are no churches, no schools, even no pubs to which to go together.” So much for Scheltema’s “open society”. The Netherlands is in fact an exceptionally segregated country.
The ambassador continues his ill-informed undiplomatic interview by telling Hungarians that they do not know the country of their birth: “After a lot of excursions I know the country [Hungary] better than many Hungarians today.“
Scheltema then addressed Islamic terrorism in the context of the jihadist attack in Barcelona: “Here, a group whose members are losers of globalisation, turned to extremism and fanatical religion because it gives them a sense of security. They create an enemy using the same principles as the Hungarian government.“
In response to the recalling of the Hungarian ambassador to the Netherlands, and the demand for a formal apology, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders (Social Democrats) has claimed he does not want to see this get any bigger than necessary. He distanced himself from the remarks by Scheltema, saying:
“In no way must impression take hold, that the Hungarian government uses the same methods as terrorism. That is just not right and I distance myself from that.“ But whether or not the Dutch government will formally apologise, remains unclear.
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
New leader of Donetsk People’s Republic: The former leader of Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Zakharchenko was assasinated by Ukrainian Security Service.
This past week the interior ministers of the member states of the European Union met in Vienna where Jean Asselborn, a member of the Socialist Workers’ Party, and Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Affairs in Luxembourg, inadvertently boosted conservatives.
The Tibetan Buddhist leader Dalai Lamas message is that Europe belongs to Europeans and refugees should return to their home countries as soon as the danger is over. Swedish journalists quickly changed from celebrating the peace laureate to suggesting the old monk is ignorant.
French conservatives on Tuesday criticised the "revival of teaching of Arabic" in schools welcomed by Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.
The "moderate" rebels in Syria were not moderate at all, the recent scandal in the Netherlands has demonstrated yet again. Faced with mounting legal problems, the Dutch government has been forced to cut loose the jihadists. At least one prosecutor seems to believe that the government committed a crime.
The HagueThe Dutch government supported an armed group in Syria that has been labeled as a terrorist organisation by the country's own Public Prosecution Service.
The establishment parties dropped in yesterday’s election in Sweden, but far from what would be expected from early polls. The Social Democrats and Conservatives remain the biggest parties, with anti establishment Sweden Democrats at third place, growing from 12.9 to 17.6 percent. However, the party could still play an decisive role, since the difference between the socialist and conservative block is one single seat.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the French National Rally - formerly known as the National Front - welcomed the rise of the Sweden Democrats.
Today the Swedes are going to vote for a new parliament, as well as regional and local representatives. The anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats are expected to rise to the position of biggest party, while a completely new Alternative for Sweden has a chance to enter the parliament.
