Politicians reacted angrily and indignantly to the attack on FVD leader Thierry Baudet, just before he was to give a lecture in Ghent. He was hit on the head with a folding umbrella. Politicians from left to right condemn this act.
“Completely unacceptable what happened to Thierry Baudet tonight,” tweets Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA). “Violence should never be tolerated. Free speech must be protected and the perpetrator prosecuted.” Timmermans hopes that Baudet is doing well.
VVD party leader Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius also wishes Baudet strength. “You fight words with words. Never with violence. This is absolutely unacceptable,” she writes X.
D66 party leader Jan Paternotte hopes that the perpetrator will be prosecuted. “This attack deserves only absolute condemnation. Anyone who wants to get his way with violence is never a democrat.”
CDA leader Henri Bontenbal calls the attack “unheard of. In a democracy, violence against politicians is never acceptable.” BBB leader Caroline van der Plas calls it “terrible what is happening to Thierry Baudet here”. DENK politicians Stephan van Baarle and Tunahan Kuzu call the attack “terrible” and “unacceptable”.
Man hits Thierry Baudet with an umbrella in Ghent
‘Stay away from politicians’
You stay away from politicians,” responded outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte. “You fight the ideas of politicians that you disagree with with words and never, never with violence.” He calls what happened to Baudet “completely unacceptable “.
Outgoing Minister of the Interior Hugo de Jonge also speaks of a “gross shame”. Like Yesilgöz-Zegerius, he wishes Baudet strength. This was also done by Speaker of the House of Representatives Vera Bergkamp. “Whatever you think or think, you keep your hands off all our MPs.”
PVV MP Harm Beertema finds it “a total shame” and “incomprehensible” that the attack could happen. “Why couldn’t the Ghent police prevent this?” Wybren van Haga, leader of BVNL, speaks of “a disgusting cowardly attack on Thierry Baudet and therefore on our free democratic society”.
There was already a lot of buzz about Baudet’s lecture in advance. The university wanted to stop this because safety could not be guaranteed. But the judge thought differently, after which the lecture could continue. Baudet spoke at the invitation of the conservative student association KVHV.
The post first appeared on www.nu.nl