Hundreds of right-wing demonstrators crowded a main square at Rotterdam’s central station Saturday to protest what they describe as the “discrimination against ordinary Dutch citizens” in favour of immigrants and Muslims.
The protest by around 700 right-wing supporters comes as Dutch political parties gear up for local government elections in March, with issues such as immigration and integration again expected to feature prominently among its 13 million illegible voters.
“The Netherlands is our country, it’s not (Prime Minister) Mark Rutte’s country,” populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who led the demonstration, told the protesters.
“We live here, not in Morocco, we don’t live in Turkey or in Saudi Arabia, but in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands,” said Wilders.