Suggestions by VVD parliamentary party leader Halbe Zijlstra that the Netherlands work more closely with dictators have been slammed by his coalition ally Diederik Samsom as ‘short sighted and counter productive’.

Zijlstra said in an interview with the Volkskrant on Saturday that the rulers on the edge of Europe should no longer be approached with a wagging finger.

‘Rather than say “you do not work according to our standards”, we should look to cooperate with the regime, because it is in our security interests,’ he said. ‘But you should also push for gradual change.’

The speedy overthrow of ‘stable regimes’ leads to chaos and an extra source of refugees, he said.

Labour leader Samsom told a party meeting in Zwolle this approach could not be ‘part of foreign policy in a government which includes the PvdA.’

‘The trouble in the Middle East and elsewhere is partly due to the fact the west has kept some of the most brutal regimes afloat,’ he said.

‘The most important argument used by terrorists to mobilise supporters against the west is that we have done business, and continue to do so, with the most cruel dictators.’

Refugees

This is the second time in a week the VVD has gone public with strategy which is opposed by their coalition partner. A week ago another VVD parliamentarian published a paper calling for Europe’s borders to be closed to refugees.

GroenLinks leader Bram van Ojik said he wanted to know what the implications of Zijlstra’s comments are for the coalition. ‘The VVD has put human rights in the bin alongside asylum rights,’ he said.

D66 parliamentarian Sjoerd Sjoerdsma pointed out that the coalition agreement states that ‘we will promote human rights in bilateral alliances’. ‘Does the VVD still support this?’ he asked.