A verbal altercation broke out in the Dutch parliament on Tuesday – Europe Day – after lawmakers attempted to give parliamentary speaker Vera Bergkamp (D66/Renew) an EU flag.

Officially, a vote has to be conducted in order for a flag to be displayed in the Dutch House of Representatives. Back in 2017, when the Dutch flag was displayed in the House for the first time, several factions demanded a European flag be installed alongside it, especially the Greens, Volt and liberal D66.

Sjoerd Sjoerdsma (D66/Renew), who offered the flag to Bergkamp, motivated his action by stating that the flag “symbolises democracy, freedom and hope” outside the confines of Europe.

Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV/ID), voiced his displeasure by calling: “Burn the flag!”

Wilders’ party colleague Martin Bosma, on his part, called for a lighter.

Far-right party Forum for Democracy (FvD) also criticised the stunt. “At least now there can be no misunderstanding about where the loyalty of this kind of ‘people’s representatives’ lies,” the party tweeted.

While thanking Sjoerdsma for the gift, Bergkamp called a parliamentary assistant to remove the flag from parliament.

“The European flag hangs in most other European parliaments and even in the Senate,” Sjoerdsma said. “Reason enough to hand over the European flag to the Chamber President on Europe Day and ensure the flag gets into the plenary hall.”

Sjoerdsma later responded to Wilders’ exclamations on Twitter. “Rather a Russian friendship pin than a European flag, Wilders in a nutshell,” he tweeted, referring to an incident back in 2018 where Wilders wore a pin displaying both the Dutch and Russian flags during a visit to Russia.

(Benedikt Stöckl | EURACTIV.com)

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