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| Geert Wilders’s Far-Right Dutch Party Sees Drop in U.S. Money | Geert Wilders’s Far-Right Dutch Party Sees Drop in U.S. Money |
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| THE HAGUE — As concern grows that Dutch politics is being influenced by American money, a new campaign disclosure report released in the Netherlands on Wednesday provided a twist: The spigot of American cash seems to have been mostly shut off. | THE HAGUE — As concern grows that Dutch politics is being influenced by American money, a new campaign disclosure report released in the Netherlands on Wednesday provided a twist: The spigot of American cash seems to have been mostly shut off. |
| The report, coming a week ahead of contentious national elections and amid a Dutch experiment with campaign finance disclosure, showed that the burst of money donated in 2015 to the far-right leader Geert Wilders has dropped sharply. Yet in Europe, where disclosure laws are porous, loopholes in the Dutch laws still prevent a full picture of the true scope and influence of foreign money. | The report, coming a week ahead of contentious national elections and amid a Dutch experiment with campaign finance disclosure, showed that the burst of money donated in 2015 to the far-right leader Geert Wilders has dropped sharply. Yet in Europe, where disclosure laws are porous, loopholes in the Dutch laws still prevent a full picture of the true scope and influence of foreign money. |
| The report showed that Mr. Wilders and his Party for Freedom, which has been running first or second in Dutch polls, received about $25,000 last year from the David Horowitz Freedom Center, run by David Horowitz, an American activist with strident views on Islam. In addition, a Buffalo-based company, listed in the new Dutch records as FOL Inc., also appeared in the records as giving roughly $7,400 in November. The company could not be immediately identified in New York State records. | The report showed that Mr. Wilders and his Party for Freedom, which has been running first or second in Dutch polls, received about $25,000 last year from the David Horowitz Freedom Center, run by David Horowitz, an American activist with strident views on Islam. In addition, a Buffalo-based company, listed in the new Dutch records as FOL Inc., also appeared in the records as giving roughly $7,400 in November. The company could not be immediately identified in New York State records. |
| But that is still a sharp drop from 2015, when Mr. Horowitz’s center donated nearly $120,000 to the Party for Freedom, making it the largest individual donation that year in the Dutch political system, which is small and parochial compared with American politics. | But that is still a sharp drop from 2015, when Mr. Horowitz’s center donated nearly $120,000 to the Party for Freedom, making it the largest individual donation that year in the Dutch political system, which is small and parochial compared with American politics. |
| Over all, the largest individual donor listed in the filing on Wednesday appeared to be Metterwoon Vastgoed, a real estate agency led by Chris Thunnessen, a businessman from The Hague. The firm gave about $158,000 this year to 50PLUS, a small party representing the interests of older voters. The firm also gave nearly $106,000 last year to the same party. | Over all, the largest individual donor listed in the filing on Wednesday appeared to be Metterwoon Vastgoed, a real estate agency led by Chris Thunnessen, a businessman from The Hague. The firm gave about $158,000 this year to 50PLUS, a small party representing the interests of older voters. The firm also gave nearly $106,000 last year to the same party. |
| With political populism surging across Europe, the Party for Freedom has been a polarizing presence in Dutch politics, with inflammatory views of Islam, and the party’s financing has been largely mysterious. Political campaigns in the Netherlands are usually funded with public financing or from party membership fees. But unlike other parties, the Party for Freedom has only one official member, Mr. Wilders, allowing it to avoid internal budget disclosures to a broader membership. | |
| The Dutch tightened their disclosure system in recent years, but there are still gaps that leave it open to outside manipulation. Donations totaling less than 4,500 euros annually, about $4,750, do not have to be made public or reported to regulators. And foreign donations are also permitted, though legislation to ban such donations has broad support in Parliament. | The Dutch tightened their disclosure system in recent years, but there are still gaps that leave it open to outside manipulation. Donations totaling less than 4,500 euros annually, about $4,750, do not have to be made public or reported to regulators. And foreign donations are also permitted, though legislation to ban such donations has broad support in Parliament. |
| The Party for Freedom listed only three donors in the latest filing, two of which were American. Few other foreign donations have surfaced in Dutch records in recent years. One exception was Chris Rufer, an American who founded a California-based company that produces tomato paste and other tomato products in bulk. He gave nearly $5,000 to the tiny Libertarian Party in 2015. According to federal records, he has been an active donor to libertarian candidates and groups in the United States. | The Party for Freedom listed only three donors in the latest filing, two of which were American. Few other foreign donations have surfaced in Dutch records in recent years. One exception was Chris Rufer, an American who founded a California-based company that produces tomato paste and other tomato products in bulk. He gave nearly $5,000 to the tiny Libertarian Party in 2015. According to federal records, he has been an active donor to libertarian candidates and groups in the United States. |
| Elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany this year are considered pivotal for the future of the eurozone and the European Union. Anxiety about outside influence has grown, usually centered on Russian hacking or disinformation efforts. Neither France nor Germany will disclose recent campaign contributions ahead of the elections. | Elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany this year are considered pivotal for the future of the eurozone and the European Union. Anxiety about outside influence has grown, usually centered on Russian hacking or disinformation efforts. Neither France nor Germany will disclose recent campaign contributions ahead of the elections. |
| Mr. Wilders has continued to focus on arousing voter anger over issues involving Muslims and Muslim-majority countries. At a demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy on Wednesday morning, he criticized the Turkish government for trying to influence locals of Turkish descent to vote on a referendum granting more powers to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. | |
| “The government has to make Turkish ministers persona non grata until after the referendum,” he said. | “The government has to make Turkish ministers persona non grata until after the referendum,” he said. |