(MENAFN) In a disturbing turn of events, Dutch politician Thierry Baudet, leader of the Forum for Democracy (FvD) party, was hospitalized after being assaulted with a beer bottle at a campaign event in Groningen. The attack, the second on Baudet in recent weeks, occurred just two days before the general election in the Netherlands.
Baudet was greeting supporters at a bar when an assailant repeatedly struck him on the head and neck with a beer bottle. Video footage captured the chaotic scene, showing Baudet's security team swiftly evacuating him as bystanders subdued the attacker. The assailant was promptly arrested, while Baudet was taken to a nearby hospital. A post on the party's social media platform, X, revealed that Baudet narrowly escaped a serious injury to his eye and received treatment from a trauma surgeon.
In response to the attack, the FvD party announced the cancellation of a scheduled event in Zwolle later in the evening, citing concerns for Baudet's health and safety. This incident comes less than a month after Baudet was struck with an umbrella by a masked assailant at Ghent University in Belgium. During that attack, the perpetrator, who shouted anti-Russian slogans, was apprehended, and Baudet suffered a minor concussion.
Baudet, a self-described leader of "the most energetic anti-globalist movement of our time," has been a vocal critic of immigration, "woke and LGBT propaganda," as well as Dutch membership in the European Union and NATO. He has garnered attention for his views on the conflict in Ukraine, dismissing it as a "stupid NATO war against Russia" and expressing admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "huge hero" in the fight against American-led "globalism."
As the Netherlands prepares for the upcoming election, these attacks on Baudet raise concerns about the safety of political figures and the potential impact on the electoral landscape. The incidents also highlight the divisive nature of Baudet's political stance and the challenges faced by those who express anti-globalist sentiments in contemporary European politics.
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