Dutch politics got a blast from the past on Monday when a right-wing politician was assaulted. The country goes to the polls tomorrow and the hospitalisation of Thierry Baudet, attacked with a bottle in a bar in the northern city of Groningen, is a reminder of what happened to Pim Fortuyn in 2002.
After being assaulted in the weeks leading up to the Dutch elections, the flamboyant right-wing Fortuyn was then shot dead nine days before voters went to the polls. His assassin was an animal rights extremist who told a court he didn’t like the way Fortuyn talked about Muslims.
Many people on the left long ago gave up protecting free speech and a growing number appear prepared to tolerate violence
Baudet is a repeat victim of left-wing aggression. Last month he was struck by a man wielding an umbrella and shouting anti-fascist slogans. ‘Completely unacceptable what happened to Thierry Baudet tonight,’ tweeted Frans Timmermans, running on a Socialist ticket in the Dutch elections. ‘Violence
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