Anyone who cannot respect Dutch customs can leave, the country’s prime minister has warned weeks ahead of the country’s general election.
In a full-page message published in several newspapers, Mark Rutte said “we have to actively defend our values” against those who refuse to integrate or act antisocially.
Mr Rutte, leader of the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, said he understands calls for people who don’t integrate to leave the Netherlands. “I have that feeling, too,” he said.
But he also appeared to criticize Mr Wilders’ anti-immigration stance. “The solution is not to tar people with the same brush,” Mr Rutte said.
On Monday, Mr Wilders hit back, calling Mr Rutte “the man of open borders, the asylum tsunami, mass immigration, Islamisation, lies and deception.”
Mr Rutte is seeking a third term in government after his coalition steered the Netherlands to a strong recovery from the financial crisis that swept Europe.
In December, a court convicted Mr Wilders of insulting and inciting discrimination against Moroccans. He is appealing the conviction, which he branded “shameful.”
