The Dutch police said that on Thursday night (7th), the headquarters of the largest political party in the Netherlands, D66, was attacked with a fireworks bomb, fortunately with no casualties. A suspect was later arrested.
The Dutch police stated that at around 9 p.m. local time (19:00 Greenwich Mean Time) in The Hague city center, a fireworks bomb was thrown into the mailbox of the D66 party office building, leading to an explosion. The police apprehended a suspect. The motive for the attack is currently unknown.
D66 party leader and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten strongly condemned this act of violence. He described the attacker’s actions as a “cowardly act of intimidation.”
Jetten stated on social media, “For those who think they can silence us by spreading fear, I want to say: in democratic Netherlands, we will never be intimidated by violence.”
D66 is a Dutch center-left social liberal and progressive political party that surprisingly defeated right-wing parties in last year’s elections to become the largest party in parliament. In February of this year, D66 formed a coalition government with the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).
According to NL Times, around 30 members of the Young Democrats (JD) were meeting inside the building at the time of the explosion.
Jan Paternotte, the parliamentary leader of D66 in the Dutch House of Representatives, also condemned the act of violence. He stated, “There were over 30 Young Democrats inside the building at the time, and they miraculously escaped unharmed as the explosion caused extensive damage.”
In a statement, the Young Democrats expressed, “Young people gathering to discuss liberal democracy being confronted with violence and intimidation is completely unacceptable.”
D66’s Minister for Foreign Trade, Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, strongly denounced the attack in a media interview.
He said, “You may not agree with D66’s positions… but this has clearly crossed all boundaries.”
Dutch News reported that Gidi Markuszower, the leader of the recently formed right-wing political party Dutch Alliance (De Nederlandse Alliantie, DNA), also condemned the act of violence.
“The explosion at a party office is likely a targeted attack, not just against a specific party but against our rule of law and democracy,” he said, “In the Netherlands, we resolve differences of opinion through discourse, not violence.”
In September of last year, a “anti-immigrant” protest at Malieveld Park in The Hague escalated into violent clashes, during which the D66 headquarters building was also targeted. Protesters not only smashed windows but also pushed a lit trash can towards the building.