The leader of a far-right Dutch party has been assaulted for the second time while campaigning ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for Wednesday, POLITICO reports.
Thierry Baudet, 40, leader of the populist Forum for Democracy (FVD) party, was hit several times in the head by an assailant carrying a beer bottle at a bar in the northern Dutch city of Groningen.
Baudet suffered head injuries in the attack and was taken to Groningen University Medical Centre for treatment, the FVD said in a statement released to X. A security guard was also injured in the incident. Video of the attack was circulated on social media. A police spokesman said one person had been arrested.
Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the attack “totally unacceptable”. He wrote on X:
“I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it now firmly: Stay away from politicians. Always.”
Frick Jansen, an FVD MP, witnessed the attack. He stated that he was together with Baudet. According to Jansen, the attacker shouted that he was “done with fascism” and that Baudet’s head bled afterwards.
In October, Baudet was hit in the head with an umbrella before a university event in the Belgian city of Ghent.
Baudet is a polarising figure in the Netherlands because of his anti-immigration views. He also puts forward various conspiracy theories, including claims that Hungarian-American investor and philanthropist George Soros manufactured COVID-19 and that the world is controlled by “evil reptiloids.” A POLITICO poll shows his party gaining 3 per cent of the vote ahead of what could be a decisive election.
