One might have come to think that all of Europe has really striven to become a “superstate” under a mutual commonwealth type of government, or rather, thinly disguised socialism. But in the last two years we have seen signs of discomfort with this system, with Brexit and the advance of increasingly popular nationalist movements within several European countries. As these leaders have risen, so has a perhaps begrudging admiration for the two leaders of the most powerful nation states in the world – the Russian Federation and the United States of America.
On March 2nd, Gene Wilders, a Dutch politician and the leader of that country’s Party for Freedom, gave an extensive interview with RT News, and discussed the issue of leadership. In this he had effusive praise for both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, and his reasoning was very specific:
Vladimir Putin is a leader, whatever you think of him. I criticize a lot of his policies. But I applaud him as I applaud Mr. Trump, for being leaders, that are standing there on behalf of the Russian and the American people… We lack that kind of leadership in Europe. Europe, being a non-entity, countries combined – almost 30 in our days and still trying to enlarge – where there is a total lack of common sense and identity. Therefore I believe Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin are more favorable than our own leaders.”
Mr. Wilders outlines several points of criticism he personally holds towards the policies of both nations, but he emphatically outlined the common characteristics his nation shares with Russia:
- the same Christian culture
- the same values about identity
- both are patriotic countries
- both are victims of Islamic terrorism in the past and today
- both countries have a lot of trade
He further noted that the tensions between the US, Russia and NATO will not go away if all that happens is that these parties “yell at each other.”
He went on to note that the former foreign minister from the Netherlands, Hable Zijlstra, had to resign his post because he was caught lying about Putin’s alleged expansionist ambitions, saying falsely that he was at the Russian leader’s dacha and heard President Putin say that he wanted to expand Russia back into the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. (He admitted that he was not personally at the dacha, but insists that this statement WAS said by the president, but it was reported by someone else who was there.”
Wilder ignored this part of the claim, noting that the whole situation is “Russophobia, fake news.”
Mr. Wilder said he is not to be compared with Donald Trump, because he is his own man. But he did note that Trump’s “America First” policy is something he understands and supports. He called to account specifically the European Union’s “open borders” policy which has allowed so many Islamic migrants to come into the region as to create what he termed and “existential problem” for Europeans. The refusal of the immigrants to assimilate and integrate into the European society is the problem that he sees.
“Islam is not [in Europe] to assimilate,” Mr. Wilder stated, and he is concerned about the coming population decline in Europe, combined with the expected massive influx of Muslims from Africa. He spoke at the Russian Parliament about this on March 2nd. Additionally, on RT he did not mince words or try to talk around the subject of the excessive migration of Islamic people to Europe. In very plain language he stated his view that these migrants came to specific European states that have large welfare systems, and he called out the wealthy countries of the Middle East for not taking in these people, who are the same as them in ideology, religion and culture.
The interview runs about 28 minutes and it is an extremely worthwhile view. We have, of course, linked to it.
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