Dutch sending diplomat to Saudi over sanctions move

Reuters

Amsterdam

The Netherlands will send a top diplomat to Saudi Arabia to prevent the country from imposing trade sanctions in protest at anti-Islamic stickers printed in the colours of the Saudi flag by a Dutch far-right politician, the foreign ministry said.

The Saudi authorities have not announced any sanctions on the Netherlands, one of the kingdom’s largest investors, but Saudi media reported this week that such measures had already taken effect, citing unnamed officials.

Dutch exports to Saudi Arabia are worth some 2bn euros ($2.7bn) a year, according to the Dutch statistics office.

Geert Wilders, the leader of the anti-immigration Dutch Freedom Party, had stickers bearing slogans derogatory to Islam printed in December as part of his campaign material.

A prominent far-right Eurosceptic who has attracted supporters as far afield as the United States, his party is leading in national opinion polls before European Parliament elections today.

“The Netherlands cannot be held responsible for the adolescent behaviour of a single parliamentarian,” Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said on Dutch broadcaster RTL.

“We will do everything possible to keep the consequences for the Netherlands as limited as possible,” he said.

The Dutch government was trying to get clarity about what kind of trade sanctions Saudi Arabia was planning, Timmermans said.

Saudi government officials declined to comment on the record.

A spokeswoman for the Dutch foreign ministry said its director general for political affairs would go to the kingdom in an attempt to smooth things over.

“There are indications (of possible sanctions), and because these indications are worrying we are going to Riyadh to talk about what these imply and hopefully do not imply,” she said.

Known for his virulent anti-Islam statements, Wilders has lived under round-the-clock armed guard since receiving death threats in 2004.