wilders
© ANPWilders, leader of the political party PVV, was received with cheers at a cafe in the Hague shortly after his election win in November 2023.
After the fall of the Dutch cabinet on July 7th, 2023, which happened because former Dutch PM Mark Rutte's four-party coalition couldn't reach an agreement on migration policy (family reunification), new elections were called which took place on November 22nd, 2023.

Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing to far-right political party Party for Freedom (PVV) and often named the "anti-islam populist" in mainstream media, was the biggest winner in those elections, taking 37 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives. Wilders said:
"The voters have spoken tonight and they've said; we are fed up!"
Wilders' promises during his campaign included leaving the EU (being in favor of a binding referendum for 'Nexit'), a withdrawal from international climate obligations, cutting immigration, stopping aid to Ukraine, having an independent national army instead of an 'EU army', banning the Quran and shutting down mosques.

After his win, Wilders had to form a coalition government with other political parties that altogether would meet the criteria of at least 76 seats.

He abandoned his idea to ban the Quran and mosques in order to increase the chances of other parties wanting to work with him in a coalition. During a parliamentary debate after his election win, he said:
"Sometimes I will have to withdraw proposals and I will do that. I will show the Netherlands, the legislature — anybody who wants to hear it — that we will adapt our rules to the constitution and bring our proposals in line with it."
He chose to form the coalition with VVD (the political party of which former Dutch PM Rutte was the political leader of), NSC, and BBB (the farmers' party).

Next, Wilders had to find a coalition-building scout, someone who could help parties reach a coalition agreement. He first proposed Gom van Strien, a politician and member of the Senate for the PVV, but he resigned before he could even start after the Dutch newspaper NRC reported that van Strien was accused by the University of Utrecht of fraud and bribery.

He then proposed Ronald Plasterk (retired politician of the political party PvdA (Labour Party) and microbiologist) to be the scout. Interestingly, he too is a questionable character. Five years ago, after his political career, Plasterk started a biotech-start-up using the knowledge and ideas of a researcher named Jan Koster. Plasterk eventually sold his company for 32 million euros. The kind-hearted researcher Koster — who was interested in research and not money, and wanted to give his knowledge for free in order to help people and researchers around the world — was blindsided and didn't expect this turn of events. He didn't receive a dime.

In any event, as the coalition has been formed and a scout was selected, discussions took place between the parties on various matters. On the topic of who becomes the new PM, the three parties didn't agree with Wilders becoming the new PM, which meant that the coalition — with Wilders taking the lead — had to find a suitable person for the position.

Wilders tweeted:
"I can only become Prime Minister if ALL parties in the coalition support it. That was not the case. I would like to have a right-wing cabinet. Less asylum and immigration. The Dutch come first. The love for my country and voters is bigger and more important than my own position."
First, Wilders suggested that his money-hungry friend Plasterk should be the new PM. However, because of the controversy around his biotech-start-up, Plasterk announced he was "no longer available" for the position.

Enter Dick Schoof

dick schoof
Dick Schoof, the new Dutch Prime Minister.
Wilders then found another candidate for PM: The 67-year-old Dick Schoof, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Justice and Security.

Schoof used to be the director-general of the General Intelligence and Security Service, the national coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism and the chief director of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service.

Wilders said about him:
"He is a very strong man, with the right experience with crises. He can be a very good prime minister, not only for us, but for the whole of the Netherlands."
The other three parties were also happy with him. The farmers' political party (BBB) leader Caroline van der Plas said about him:
"In the unstable world we live in now, it's good to have a prime minister who has experience with that."
Schoof is also an interesting character and choice. When he was the national coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) from 2018 to 2020, he ordered municipalities to allegedly infiltrate mosques. According to the Dutch newspaper NRC, at least 10 municipalities hired companies to conduct secret investigations in places of worship.

The 'researchers' participated in the prayer and collected all kinds of personal information about visitors and board members. They reported everything in detail, who was related to whom, which education people had, who had quarrels with whom, and what people believed in.

The municipalities and the 'researchers' denied the allegations. Representatives of the Dutch municipalities of Huizen, Hilversum and Gooise Meren said the company NTA they hired "mapped out the networks within the Islamic community in a responsible manner on behalf of the municipalities". They added:
NTA has assured us that it hasn't made any secret visits to the mosques and that the people interviewed knew that they were participating in an investigation for the municipality. There was no infiltration, as suggested by NRC.
However, Dutch council member Yasin Makineli said that based on conversations with people who were involved, it's not true that the 'researchers' identified themselves as such. He added:
"If the NTA is so sure of its case, then the solution is very simple: publish the report. So that the entire country can see whether it has complied with privacy legislation and the legal frameworks."
The Dutch municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg said in a statement that they're going to look into whether the used research method by NTA complied with privacy laws. The municipality also stated that they hired the company NTA upon advice from the NCTV (the Dutch counter-terrorism unit led by Schoof at the time).

If these mosques were infiltrated, Schoof and the involved parties acted illegally.

That's not all. On Schoof's orders, the NCTV also followed Dutch citizens on social media with fake social media accounts created by employees. Another illegal act. The NCTV collected private information about citizens for years. They made analyses on whether citizens were married, had kids and who they hung out with.

In 2022, Bits of Freedom, an independent Dutch digital rights foundation, filed a complaint at the Supervisory Committee of the Intelligence and Security Services (CTIVD) about the inappropriate use of data about citizens by intelligence agencies. Based on their complaint, the CTIVD ordered that the intelligence agencies AIVD and MIVD had to destroy five large datasets. These datasets contained the data of millions of Dutch citizens.

Moreover, Bits of Freedom holds an annual Big Brother Awards, an award they give to anyone who has increased civilian surveillance or who has caused infringement on the privacy of citizens in the past year. The Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, with Schoof as secretary-general of the ministry at the time, received the award in 2021 for "a range of privacy violations, but also for failing to stand up for the legal protection of citizens" and in 2023, because "people who were put on a terror list wrongly were abandoned to their fate".

All the above doesn't paint a nice picture of Schoof.

Yet, all parties in the coalition were happy with him. Schoof became the new Dutch PM and he assumed office on July 2nd, 2024.

meme schoof
Surely, the politicians in the coalition who are beloved by many wouldn't want another wolf in sheep's clothing in a leading position? Perhaps Schoof has let go of his Big Brother surveillance tendencies and is intent on bringing about positive change?

Wrong!

On July 3rd, 2024, one day after he became the Dutch PM he called Zelensky, the President of Ukraine. He wrote on X:
"Just met the Ukrainian president @ZelenskyyUA and received his warm congratulations on the new cabinet. I assured him that the Netherlands' support for his country is rock solid; we will continue to support Ukraine politically, militarily, and financially against Russian aggression, whatever it takes and for as long as it takes. We also looked ahead to the upcoming NATO summit next week in Washington and I look forward to our meeting."
Zelensky tweeted in response:
I personally congratulated Dick Schoof on his appointment as Prime Minister of the Netherlands @MinPres and wished him success in his honorable and responsible mission. Relations between our countries have never been stronger. We have scheduled a meeting to further develop our partnership. Ukraine counts on the Netherlands to maintain its leadership role in point 7 of the Peace Formula, "Restoration of Justice," and to expand the training mission for Ukrainian pilots.
Schoof is set to support Ukraine with 3 billion euros this year.

This phone call raised many eyebrows, in particular for those who voted for Wilders and his political party PVV. They feel cheated. This isn't what they voted for, they didn't want any support for Ukraine. Money is better spent for Dutch citizens, especially considering that the number of children in the Netherlands growing up in poverty is increasing due to inflation and rising energy costs. In addition, more and more Dutch citizens are dependent on help from the Red Cross for their daily food.

It's pretty obvious at this point that Schoof was selected because of his past where he has shown little respect or care for Dutch citizens. He's the right puppet to take the position, ready to take any orders from the Powers that Be.

An X user wrote on July 9th:
"The PVV voters, including myself, voted for change. And what do we get instead of change? A continuation of Rutte IV. The PVV voters have been thoroughly cheated. None of the PVV's plans are happening anymore, the PVV bows to the left and to the VVD and Omtzigt."
Considering the development in the weeks after Wilders' win, such as (1) him abandoning some of his plans (the PVV said that they don't want a Nexit anymore and that they support "the battle of Ukraine against the Russian aggressor") (2) and the people he presented for different positions (including presenting Schoof for the next PM and wanting politician Gidi Markuszower to become the migration minister who ended up being withdrawn due to his connections with Israel's Mossad), makes it rather likely that Wilders is controlled opposition.

In other words, Wilders may be used to keep the people who are critical of the Dutch government happy by giving them the illusion of choice and representation in the government. It also makes it easier to identify citizens who criticize government policy. The same may be said about other opposition parties and politicians, including Dutch politician Thierry Baudet, but that's another topic.

In conclusion, the majority of people voted for Wilders and his promises of a Nexit and no support for Ukraine, but got Schoof who is pro-EU and who has promised continued support for Ukraine instead. Welcome to European 'democracy'!

schoof ursula
© ANP/HDutch PM Schoof met the president of the European Commission von der Leyen in early July, 2024. Von der Leyen wrote on X: "I welcomed Schoof in Brussels. The EU and the Netherlands share important priorities. From support to Ukraine, defence, competitiveness, migration and the future of our agriculture. Looking forward to our cooperation."