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Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders said Thursday it is unfair and “constitutionally wrong” that he had to sacrifice his leadership aspirations to pave the way for a right-wing ruling coalition in the Netherlands after his party won the most seats in a November election.
Wilders said Wednesday night that he was giving up his bid, at least for now, to become prime minister because he did not have the full support of all three parties he is negotiating with to form a ruling coalition.
He wrote on X: “I can only become premier if ALL parties in the coalition support that. That wasn’t the case.”
On Thursday, he sounded bitter that he likely will not become prime minister despite his election victory, exposing simmering tensions between possible coalition partners.
Historically, the leader of the largest party in parliament has become prime minister in the Netherlands.
His comment came after Dutch media, citing unnamed sources, reported a breakthrough in coalition talks on Tuesday night.
It was claimed that the leaders of all four parties involved in drawn-out coalition negotiations would remain in parliament.
This would set up the likelihood of some sort of technical Cabinet consisting of experts
While it now looks like Wilders will not lead the government, he and his Party for Freedom will remain the driving force behind the next administration.
Wilders later added another comment on X to say that, one day, he still wants to be prime minister:
“Don't forget: I will still become premier of the Netherlands,” he said. “With the support of even more Dutch people. If not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. Because the voice of millions of Dutch people will be heard!”
The PVV leader spent Monday and Tuesday in talks with the leaders of the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, the populist Farmer Citizen Movement and the centrist New Social Contract.
Far-Right gains
Wilders has often called for a ban on mosques, Islamic schools and the Quran. But in a concession to his prospective coalition partners in January, he withdrew draft legislation to implement the bans.
The Netherlands is not alone in seeing a shift to the right.
Far-right parties also are expected to make significant gains in June elections for the European Union's parliament and Portugal's inconclusive result in Sunday's election thrust the populist Chega — or Enough — party into a possible kingmaker's role.
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Legal troubles continue piling up on Andrew Tate, the former kickboxing world champion, turned social media influencer who once proudly proclaimed himself a “misogynist”.
On Monday night, Tate and his brother Tristan were detained in Romania and handed an arrest warrant issued by UK authorities over allegations of "sexual aggression" in a case dating back to 2012-2015.
The brothers - who are both dual UK and US citizens - have rejected the charges.
The British civil case against Tate is just the latest legal blow to the social media influencer, however. In December 2022, he was arrested along with his brother and two Romanian women over charges of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
Though formally indicted by Romanian prosecutors on all four charges, Tate continues to deny any wrongdoing.
Tate, who currently counts 8.9 million followers on X, has become something of a poster child for the manosphere - an umbrella term referring to an interconnected network of websites, blogs and online communities where groups of men promote toxic masculinity and misogyny.
Their goal is often to fight against progressive ideas like gender equality.
“He really captured the imagination at one point, because he went viral extremely quickly and really managed to suck men into his worldview,” Cécile Simmons, research manager at the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), told Euronews.
“But the worldviews that seduce these men are not going away with him.”
A story that began long before Tate
While misogyny has deep roots in human history, the ideology has recently found fertile ground online, where often disgruntled men can bond over their frustration and anger at the world and women.
“The manosphere, a collection of online misogynistic communities, has been active for a long time online, though there’s been more awareness of them since 2016, when Donald Trump was elected,” Simmons said.
“In recent years, influencers have really contributed to the mainstreaming of misogynistic ideas, and Andrew Tate is one of the biggest influencers,” she added.
“What characterises him is how quickly he amassed the followers he got, and he did so by combining misogyny and self-help talk, building this whole commercial enterprise.”
Tate is seen by many observers as having capitalised on online misogyny and bringing it to the mainstream. His pervasive influence continues, especially among young boys, despite his legal problems.
In 2022, the same year that Tate was arrested in Romania, the influencer was deplatformed on most social media over his toxic messages about women. While he remains banned on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, his profile has been reinstated on X by Elon Musk and is currently active.
But even when he was banned on all popular social media, his content continued circulating online, Simmons said, citing a 2022 report which found that “his fans were still sharing his content and reposting his stuff.”
‘Plenty of Andrew Tates’
The troubles of Andrew Tate might be a blow for the manosphere, but it won’t likely be its end.
It might, in fact, be an opportunity for other “red pill” influencers to rise to the type of mainstream popularity he enjoyed. Red pill influencers are those who believe that feminism is harmful to men, that men are victims of a woman-centred world and that they are entitled to sex, the ISD writes.
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The kind of ideology championed by Tate is becoming ever more mainstream, according to Simmons.
“Everyone is so focused on Andrew Tate because he was so big for a while, but while we look at him we forget that there are loads of other people out there with big platforms who are peddling quite problematic ideas,” she said.
Feelings of frustration and anger felt by men around the world over their perceived new role in the world, which were used by Tate to bolster his ascent on social media, haven’t gone away, Simmons continued.
“What has to be said is that there are plenty of Andrew Tates out there. They might not say exactly the same things, it might not be as violent, but there are a lot of influencers who say something similar. That women who go to the gym are promiscuous, that men should control their women.”
“I think there’s a lot of resentment among young men, and I think that there are other influencers who now are trying to tap into that same discontent that Tate used,” she added. “Other people are ready to weaponise those feelings. And we need to find solutions to address this.”
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Twenty-five leading human rights organisations have criticised deliveries of aid into Gaza by air and sea, claiming they are “not an alternative" to land.
In a joint press release, the NGOs - including Amnesty, Action Aid International and Oxfam - urged states to focus on achieving a permanent ceasefire and “safe and unhindered” humanitarian access through land crossings into the Palestinian enclave.
“States cannot hide behind airdrops and efforts to open a maritime corridor to create the illusion that they are doing enough to support the needs in Gaza," the 25 NGOs wrote.
"Their primary responsibility is to prevent atrocity crimes from unfolding and apply effective political pressure to end the relentless bombardment and the restrictions which prevent the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.”
Other humanitarian organisations and states have claimed airdrops are the best solution available, given the complex political and security situation on the ground.
Gaza is currently gripped by a hunger crisis after five months of war, with its health ministry estimating last week that at least 20 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration in hospitals in North Gaza.
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed its team witnessed at least 10 children die of starvation during their visit the weekend before.
Israeli forces have been accused of denying access to - and firing on - aid convoys over land to Gaza. Israel denies blocking aid and has instead blamed UN agencies for "backlogs".
A worsening security situation, especially in the north, where crowds of desperate Palestinians and gangs have attacked aid trucks, previously forced humanitarian organisations to halt supplies, meanwhile.
Western countries and organisations have reacted by trying to deliver more food aid to Gaza, with the US making its first Gaza aid airdrop earlier this month.
On Tuesday, a Spanish ship sailed off from Cyprus carrying 200 tonnes of flour and rice for Palestinians in Gaza.
But while the ship’s journey is considered a test for the opening of a sea corridor to supply aid to the territory, NGOs have slammed the efforts, saying it’s not enough.
“While States have recently ramped up airdrops of aid in Gaza, humanitarian professionals stress that this method of aid delivery alone has in no way the capacity to meet the massive needs in the enclave,” they write.
“2.3 million people living in a catastrophic state of survival cannot be fed and healed by airdrops. “
Airdrops can deliver only a few tonnes of food aid, whereas a convoy of five trucks can carry about 100 tonnes “of lifesaving assistance”, the NGOs say.
They also allow aid organisations to better ensure assistance is properly allocated to those who need it.
While they recognise that every aid reaching Gaza at this time is needed, the groups fear that creating “dangerous precedents” might lead to the ultimate degradation of humanitarian access through land in Gaza and the prolongation of hostilities.
Five children were killed last week in a humanitarian airdrop from an unidentified country, as people ran towards the packages being parachuted down.