The Hague - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), has temporarily suspended all his campaign activities.
Election campaigns have begun for all parties represented in the Dutch parliament, as well as new local parties that have entered the arena, seeking to win votes and secure seats in the Dutch parliament. According to written statements by journalist Noureddine Amrani from The Hague, Wilders wrote in a post on platform X that the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) confirmed that his name was on a list of "terrorist suspects" who had previously planned to carry out an attack on the Belgian Prime Minister in the neighboring country. He added: "NCTV does not anticipate any 'residual threat,' but I feel bad about this, and that is why I have decided to temporarily suspend all my campaign activities." NCTV declined to comment on the matter.
This move comes after Wilders skipped an election debate broadcast on Dutch radio NPO Radio 1 on Friday, following reports of a potential threat.
This comes after the public prosecutor's office announced in Brussels that a terrorist attack targeting current Prime Minister Bart De Wever had been thwarted. Local media, including the newspaper Nieuwsblad, reported that the alleged terrorist cell dismantled by the Federal Prosecutor's Office allegedly targeted Prime Minister Bart De Wever. Wever, who belongs to the Northern Alliance (N-VA) party, was arrested. During a search in the Dorna district of Antwerp, northern Belgium, near the Prime Minister's private residence, a homemade explosive device was found. Three young jihadists from Antwerp, inspired by the Islamic State, devised a plan to assassinate Prime Minister Bart De Wever using homemade explosives attached to a drone. The Federal Prosecutor's Office described the plan as a failed terrorist assassination attempt. The Federal Prosecutor's Office provided further details about the case during a press conference. Anne Lukowiak, press judge at the Federal Prosecutor's Office, provided further information about the foiled attack on Bart De Wever in comments on Radio 1 on Friday morning. "The investigation has been ongoing for some time, but no action has been taken on it until now," she said. "The police had sufficient information to launch an investigation. Several individuals were identified, and thus the investigation began." The threat seemed real, so to avoid any risks, the investigating judge decided to intervene.
Reports indicated that the suspects were targeting not only the prime minister but also other politicians. Lukowiak added, "It was indeed a planned attack on several politicians, but we will not elaborate further and will not confirm any other names." Lukowiak neither denied nor confirmed whether the suspects were pro-Israel politicians.
Several politicians expressed shock on Thursday at the news of the failed attack on Prime Minister Bart De Wever. Valerie Van Peel, leader of the N-VA party, responded to X, saying, "Let's not forget that there is another family besides Bart."
Responding to the news of the foiled assassination attempt on Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Interior Minister Bernard Quentin said, "I would like to commend the excellent work of our security services, who have once again proven their effectiveness and efficiency in protecting our democracy and our institutions." He added, "We will continue to combat the extremist threat in our country."