FVD leader Thierry Baudet did not show up at House Speaker Martin Bosma’s office on Thursday after he was called for an interview. He did express regret to Bosma by telephone for what he said to Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks-PvdA) on Wednesday after a House of Representatives debate. “He states that he allowed himself to be carried away by the fierceness of the debate,” Bosma told ANP on Thursday.
After the debate, Klaver asked Baudet to send the annual reports of the Forum for Democracy Foundation from around the Ukraine referendum in 2016. Baudet is said to have then replied to Klaver: “I’m not going to do that. And if you ask again, I’ll punch you in the face.” After Klaver reported this to the Speaker of the House, Bosma called on the FVD leader to talk to him on Thursday morning. In a letter to Baudet, he wrote that “boundaries and standards of decency” have been exceeded, which would damage “the reputation of the Chamber and politics”.
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Klaver threatened by Baudet: ‘If you ask again, I will punch you in the mouth’
Annual accounts
The issue of the annual accounts of the Forum for Democracy Foundation had also been discussed during the parliamentary debate. Klaver and D66 faction leader Jan Paternotte asked about this. The latter accused Baudet of ties to the Kremlin, to which Baudet responded angrily: “That accusation is an insult to my honor. That’s why I’m angry. In any other situation you would punch someone in the face if they thought that about me.”
In these words, the Speaker of the House “did not perceive a call to molest others”, but the words after the debate would have gone further, according to Klaver. “I cannot tolerate threats – even in the plenary hall –,” Bosma wrote in the letter to Baudet, whom he wanted to speak to as soon as possible.
Baudet’s response
„[Baudet] stated that he had another appointment and that he could not be here today,” the Speaker of the House said on Thursday morning. “I think that in itself is a shame.” Bosma asked Baudet on the telephone to make his regrets “clear to the outside world, or to contact Mr Klaver, or to send a clear tweet, or a press release, or whatever.”
Shortly afterwards, Baudet shared on X one https://twitter.com/thierrybaudet/status/1773278915483533531 in which he discusses the events. “I let Jesse Klaver in particular encourage me too much, and then I said something I shouldn’t have said.” He adds: “There was never any question of me actually making a threat. There was a distance of four meters between them […]it was not a threatening physical situation. […] I can’t imagine that Jesse Klaver really felt threatened.”
Klaver said on Thursday morning that he had not received a call from Baudet, which he would appreciate. “Since yesterday my mailbox has been full of threats, so I hope he makes that clear [aan zijn achterban dat geweld geen oplossing is voor meningsverschillen].” Klaver does not yet know whether he will press charges. He also reiterated his call for the annual accounts of the Forum for Democracy foundation to be made public.
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