Baudet threatens to ‘punch Klaver in the mouth’, Chamber chairman wants explanation from FvD member

NOS News•yesterday, 8:58 PM

Chamber chairman Martin Bosma calls on party leader Thierry Baudet of FvD because of threats from Jesse Klaver of GroenLinks-PvdA. Baudet said that he would “slap Klaver in the face”.

In a letter to Baudet, Bosma calls Baudet’s comment unacceptable. Bosma wants to speak to Baudet about this tomorrow morning. “I cannot tolerate threats – even in the plenary hall -,” Bosma writes. He further says that “boundaries and standards of decency have been crossed”. “It also damages the reputation of the House and politics.”

Bosma did not hear it himself because he was talking to another MP, but the incident was confirmed to him by several people, he continues.

View an earlier similar statement by Baudet during the debate this afternoon below. You then see Baudet and Klaver talking outside the microphone, making a direct threat, after which Klaver walks to chairman Bosma:

Baudet’s collision with Klaver in the House of Representatives

The incident happened after a parliamentary debate on a proposal by the FvD to hold a consultative referendum on Dutch EU membership. During the debate, Baudet became irritated by questions from Klaver and D66 MP Jan Paternotte.

They confronted Baudet about his pro-Russian positions and wanted to know whether he and his party are or were paid by Russia. Klaver repeatedly asked him for the annual accounts of the Forum for Democracy Foundation. This is the foundation that Baudet founded in 2014 to organize activities surrounding the Ukraine referendum. Klaver wants to know whether those documents show that Baudet has received money directly or indirectly from Russia.

According to Baudet, these documents are public. He referred to the Chamber of Commerce where these documents could be requested. Klaver said that is not the case. This afternoon it showed on the Chamber of Commerce website that those documents are not there. “No annual accounts available,” it says at the order button.

After the debate, the microphones had been turned off by Bosma, a conversation arose between Klaver and Baudet. Baudet told Klaver that he would hit him in the mouth if Klaver asked about the annual accounts one more time. Klaver then reported this to Bosma.

The incident could be seen on the video recording of the House of Representatives, but not heard. When asked by NOS what exactly had happened, Klaver told about Baudet’s threatening words. He confirmed a little later that he had indeed said this because he was angry.

Bosma says in his letter that the Rules of Order “do not provide for sanctions in response to threats or other objectionable behavior outside the meeting.” Nevertheless, he wants to speak to Baudet tomorrow “about this extremely regrettable issue”.

Klaver is awaiting the outcome of this conversation about what he calls “a low point”, he said in a statement. “It’s good that the chairman took this up so quickly.”