DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: CROWN PRINCE WILLEM-ALEXANDER IS WORRIED ABOUT THE 'SHARP' TONED BEING EMPLOYED BY SOME POLITICIANS WHEN IT COMES TO ISLAM

Crown Prince Calls for Mild Tone on Islam

THE HAGUE, 02/05/07 - Crown Prince Willem-Alexander is worried about the sharp tone that some politicians use on integration of immigrants in Dutch society. He considers this unnecessarily polarises the debate.

The crown prince gave public broadcaster NOS a TV interview on the occasion of his 40th birthday. He could not say when he would ascend the throne. When this happens, he will, like his mother Queen Beatrix, try to play a binding role in society, the crown prince said.

In the interview, the prince said he is worried about "people who are basically acting destructively." He appeared to be referring to Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders, who unsuccessfully demanded earlier this year that Justice State Secretary Nebahat Albayrak give up her Turkish passport.

The prince considered that debates on dual nationality had a polarising effect. "Now and then, it would be good for people not to immediately say something back, but just wait a bit, consider and then say something. (...) Not for nothing do we have the saying: 'Speech is silver, silence is golden.'

A survey held by NOS showed that 70 percent of the Dutch want Queen Beatrix to abdicate in favour of her son within three years. Eighty percent of the Dutch consider the crown prince suitable to be monarch. Around 77 percent want the Netherlands to remain a monarchy.


Pertinent Links:

1) Crown Prince Calls for Mild Tone on Islam