Old VVD Facebook posts upsets Spain
Thursday 26 July 2012
 A month-old Facebook post on the VVD’s election campaign page has led to protests in Spain after it was picked up by the Brussels’ correspondent of El Mundo, the NRC reports.
The posting, published two days before the European football championship final at the end of June, features Spanish footballer Xavi and Italian player Andrea Pirlo with the slogan ‘they can have the cup but not our credit-worthiness.
The accompanying text reads: ‘Italy or Spain will be European football champions. Now they have to become champions at making cuts because if it is up to us they will not be allowed to profit from our thriftiness without getting their own affairs in order. Like if you agree!’
A VVD spokesman dismissed the hundreds of angry Spanish reactions, saying the post is tongue in cheek and fits in with the way of communicating via Facebook. But he declined to comment when asked if it is appropriate language for a prime minister, the NRC said.
The eurozone crisis is a central theme in the election campaign, ahead of the September 12 vote.
Are the Spanish being oversensitive? Have your say using the comment form below.
© DutchNews.nl
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I think that post says more about the VVE and the prime minister than about the Spaniards or Italians....
By Roxanne | 26 July 2012 4:08 PM"Are the Spanish being oversensitive?". Of course not. The VVD post is not merely simplistic, of a type that has been feeling thinly-veiled racism and xenophobia in Europe the past two years, it is, far more to the point, deplete of ignorance of how economic interconnectedness, globalisation and money flows work. For one thing, if the eurozone had not been designed to for the benefit of specific economies, northern Europe would not have been better-off financially. It is not 'thriftiness' that has made the Dutch economy stronger-this is laughable. It is the eurozone as such, designed to fit export economies like Germany and the Netherlands (legally, an entrepot economny). The rest is politically-motivated domestic consumption garbage,
By Ria | 26 July 2012 4:59 PM"Are the Spanish being oversensitive". No, this is just another example of how the Dutch political and economic debate (mostly VVD and PVV), is simply focused on putting one against another with denigratory statements which could be better expressed in public and civilized debates (where one can make the same point with more respect). This is nothing different from calling south Europeans "garlic countries", Asians "Wok-cooks", east Europeans "pipe fitters" and Moroccans "Islamic voting cattle" or setting up websites against Poles or saying that double passport is OK for Swedes but not for Turks. Gives me a real nasty feeling
By the_expat | 26 July 2012 5:43 PMIt is not clear if Spanish are oversensitive however it is certain that Dutch politicians are childish... Which should be a shame. So it is better to question that.
By Pechorin | 27 July 2012 9:26 AMDisclaimer : I am neither Spanish nor Dutch :)
Well, I think they are oversensitive!You shouldn't expect the dutch tax payers take the responsibility for your bank systems!
By Sara | 27 July 2012 2:01 PMI agree that the politician's language is not proper in the Netherlands but fact is fact!
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By cheap snapbacks | 29 July 2012 1:29 AMVVD's wording is perfectly correct, there's nothing for the Spanish to buzz about. In today's economic circumstances it'd be way more useful to get thrifty rather than kick the ball around.
By Vecherniy | 30 July 2012 3:45 PM