The following interview with Thierry Baudet, the founder and leader of the populist Euroskeptic Dutch political party Forum for Democracy (forum Voor Democratie), concerns the recent riots in the Hague and Utrecht.

Many thanks to FouseSquawk for translating this article from De Dagelijkse Standaard:

Exclusive interview with Thierry Baudet: “Street scum rule in the Netherlands. We have to change something in our country”

For days the Dagelijkse Standaard has been reporting over the serious disturbances in the Netherlands, which have been caused by so-called “overheated and bored youth, often with a migration background.” DDS spoke exclusively with Thierry Baudet about the aversion of certain groups to Dutch society and culture, and what we might do about it.

What do you think of what we now see happening in the Schilderswijk [The Hague] and Kanaleneiland [Utrecht]?

What we see happening in Schilderswijk and Kanaleneiland is shocking. At the same time, unfortunately, I am not surprised. We have known for a long time that in many areas of the Netherlands — nowadays not only in the large cities — there is a problem with the immigrant youths who have lived in the Netherlands three or four generations, but in no way want to be a part of Dutch society.

Isn’t that simply an aversion to Dutch society?

Yes, if you ask them if they are Dutch or Moroccan/Turk, they will themselves say the latter. The aversion to Dutch society is accompanied by an enormous over-representation in crime, especially violent crime. The more their numbers increase, the more this will become a bigger problem, and that certainly concerns me.

Our Netherlands was once so safe and peaceful. It pains me to see that there are areas in the Netherlands that are unsafe, areas where the scum can chase the police out. And that was completely unnecessary; it is completely senseless.

What was really the tipping point where it went so frightfully wrong, as we now see in certain residential areas?

It went wrong with the massive immigration of people whose culture and values are too far removed from Dutch culture and values. For economic gain in the short term, guest workers were brought to the Netherlands. Subsequently, the VVD, CDA and PvdA never did anything to send these guests back and their numbers rose at a dizzying pace.

For decades, looking the other way on the part of the party cartel has led to a culture of lawlessness and disrespect for the Netherlands and Dutch people. Now we are reaping the bitter fruit.

How do you think the authorities should react to the unrest in certain residential areas, but also as we recently saw, for example, with drill rappers on the beach at Scheveningen?

First, the government must deploy police capacity in the areas where lawlessness reigns. Why do the cartel politicians have police giving Corona fines to hardworking entrepreneurs while in the meantime police are chased away by rioters in Schilderswijk? Why is the government considering giving out fines for filling swimming pools or washing cars during drought while the scum in our cities are waging war against the police?

The cartel must stop with the bullying of ordinary Dutch people through more and more unnecessary rules to impose and enforce. Instead, the enforcement of public order must take priority. And if the police are not able to, then the army must be deployed. I don’t see why the Dutch military is deployed in all kinds of faraway wars where the Netherlands has nothing to gain, but not deployed to keep our own country safe.

But to deploy the military in our own country, is that not a bit out of proportion?

Of course having to deploy the army in one’s own country is not the norm. It is an extreme means for when the police can no longer handle it. And unfortunately, that seems to be the case at the moment in areas like Schilderswijk. Thus, we must, indeed, deploy the army: We must at all costs prevent lawlessness from ruling Dutch streets and the scum being the boss of the police.

In 2012 Rutte campaigned for the VVD with the slogan, “More punishment and less understanding for criminals”. But 8 years later, the situation has only gotten worse. This, then, is a call to the cabinet: Make sure that there are sufficient police, both in the street and in the police stations, so that rioters will be dealt with really hard.

The basic point is that every neighborhood and every street in the Netherlands must always be safe. This is the most important task of government. Everything else is secondary.

Disorder among certain, especially young, people has been going on for years. Dagblad Trouw wrote about it in 1998, for example. How are we going to handle this in the long run?

Basically, there must be a change of mentality. Immigrants who want to contribute in a positive manner to our society are, of course, greatly welcome. But when newcomers don’t want to integrate, when, after three or four generations, they still can’t or don’t want to feel like Dutch people, when they commit violent crimes and have double nationality — then the government must get these people to return to their land of origin. That is better for everyone.