Geert Wilders has announced a suspension of public campaign events ahead of this month’s elections following reports he was a target of an Antwerp-based Islamist terrorist cell.
This week, an 18-year-old Moroccan and a 23-year-old Chechen man were arrested in Antwerp on suspicion of plotting terror attacks against Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Antwerp Mayor Els van Doesburg, and Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, police found a homemade explosive at the home of the 18-year-old suspect, who was studying defence and security at the Sint-Norbertus Institute in Antwerp. Meanwhile, a 3D printer was found at the home of the 23-year-old suspect, who was also said to be studying cybersecurity in the country.
Belgian authorities said that the cell is suspected of planning “to carry out a jihadist-inspired terrorist attack targeting politicians,” De Telegraaf reports.
On Friday, Wilders, whose PVV party currently leads the polls ahead of the October 29th parliamentary elections, announced that he would suspend public campaigning due to concerns for his safety.
Wilders said that the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) security agency “confirmed” to him that he was named as a target in the planned attack.
“This is not the first time in 21 years of threats and security measures that this has happened to me, but every time it shocks me enormously. The NCTV does not expect any ‘residual threat,’ but I have a bad feeling about this myself and therefore I am suspending all my campaign activities for the time being,” Wilders said.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof commented: “In our country, politicians must be able to do their work safely. Every threat is completely unacceptable. It is extraordinarily serious that Geert Wilders feels compelled to temporarily suspend his campaign.
“I trust that all involved security organizations and services are working closely together and doing everything to ensure that the campaigns and elections proceed safely. That is of the greatest importance for our democracy.”
As one of Europe’s chief critics of Islamic extremism and Muslim migration, Wilders has long faced threats of violence and has been forced to live under 24-hour security for two decades.
In 2019, a Pakistani national, Junaid Iqbal, was sentenced to ten years in prison after being convicted of a terror plot to “send the dog Wilders to hell.”
Last year, 56-year-old Imam Muhammad Ashraf Asif Jalali was sentenced to 14 years in prison in absentia after issuing a fatwa death warrant against the populist politician.
In an exclusive article for Breitbart London ahead of the trial, Wilders lamented how he and his wife have been forced to “live in various safe houses” and under constant security for the past two decades.
“We have lost our freedom and privacy. Everywhere I go, I am constantly surrounded by bodyguards,” he wrote.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on X: Follow @KurtZindulka or e-mail to: [email protected]
Read the full article here