Geert Wilders

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke on the phone to his Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders on March 8 ahead of his planned visit to the Netherlands in a bid to address Turks living there on constitutional change referendum campaigns in Turkey. 

The year 2017 is set to be a crucial one for Europe, with key elections ahead in the Netherlands, France and Germany. The outcome of these elections will indicate whether or not the U.K.'s Brexit decision, along with the rise of populist parties, will trigger the subsequent unraveling of the union. 
 

A police officer was arrested on Monday on suspicion of leaking investigation information to a Moroccan-Dutch criminal organization, NRC reports. According to the newspaper, the officer in question is of Moroccan descent and works at the so-called Safety and Security Department, tasked with providing security to the royal family and threatened politicians like Geert Wilders, among others.

With the specter of populism looming over a critical election year in Europe, the European Parliament has taken an unusual step to crack down on racism and hate speech in its own house.

In March, Geert Wilders and his Party of Freedom could become the second strongest political force in the Dutch parliament.

But his supporters are nearly invisible - even in his home province of Limburg.

According to a Dutch Minister, authorities will count by hand all the votes cast in next month’s general elections, in order to avoid the possibility of a cyber attack.

Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk said in a letter to parliament on Wednesday that he can not rule out that state actors may try to benefit from influencing political decisions and public opinion in the Netherlands.

With a payed advertisement the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tells the illegal immigrants that if they “either you will behave normally or you will leave”.

The Dutch Prime Minister chose this message at the light of the upcoming elections at the 15th of March.

A Dutch court convicted populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders of hate speech Dec. 9 at the end of a trial he branded a politically motivated "charade" that endangered freedom of speech.

Geert Wilders, the Dutch anti-Islam opposition leader, said on Oct. 28 that he refuses to attend his trial next week and that he sees it as politically motivated. 

Wilders is accused of discrimination and inciting racism in remarks made on live television in 2014 when he led a roomful of people chanting that they wanted fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands. 

Misinformation, prejudice, and mutual dislike are increasingly the common denominator between Turks and Europeans. Britain provided a clear example when the "Brexiteers" used Turkey in the campaign to steer the public away from the EU.