Ahead of the Netherlands national elections on November 22, the Dutch right-wing firebrand Thierry Baudet has been violently assaulted for a second time.
During an event in a bar in the Northern city of Groningen, a man repeatedly struck Baudet in the head with a glass bottle.
Baudet was accompanied by security who intervened quickly but the attacker still managed to injure the politician quite badly. One guard was also reportedly hurt.
Thierry #Baudet is zojuist aangevallen met een fles/glas in Groningen. Hij is nu op weg naar het UMCG. Dit is het resultaat van de doorlopende demonisering door de media en van diverse politici. #StemFVD #STEMZEWEG pic.twitter.com/wkCCGYE0KA
— Annelies (@annstrikje) November 20, 2023
Baudet was hit in the temple, narrowly missing his eye, his party stated. He was taken to hospital.
A planned event was cancelled due to the assault. The unnamed attacker was arrested by the police. “We are taking this seriously and investigating the facts,” they said.
Several politicians reacted in shock to the latest attack on Baudet. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte said it was “totally unacceptable”.
“I said it before and I repeat it firmly now: stay away from politicians. Always.”
Centrist MP Pieter Omtzigt said: “Absolutely and completely unacceptable to physically attack and injure Baudet. This hits democracy hard.
“We appear to have learned nothing from 2002 and Pim Fortuyn. Get well Thierry and hope it is not too bad.”
Jesse Klaver [Green/Labour] also said the assault on Baudet was “unacceptable”. He said it showed that “something is quite wrong in our democracy when we treat each other like this”.
Baudet was previously attacked on October 26, as he prepared to speak at another event in Belgium.
In that incident, he was left concussed after being hit in the head with an umbrella during a visit to Ghent University. As a result he was forced to put his election campaign on hold for a few days.
