The government has condemned an anti-Islam sticker produced by Geert Wilder’s PVV, saying the politician is playing into the hands of extremists.

The sticker is ‘disgusting’ and its only aim is to hurt people, deputy prime minister Lodewijk Asscher told Nos television.

Foreign minister Frans Timmermans also condemned the sticker and said this sort of action is counterproductive.

‘Insulting their religion is not the way to combat extremism but plays into extremists’ hands,’ he said. ‘The Dutch government is distancing itself from this.’

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Wilders has placed a sticker on the door of his parliamentary office. It reads, in Arabic, ‘Islam is a lie, Mohammed is a criminal, the Koran is poison.’ The sticker is a deliberate take-off of the Saudi Arabian flag.

Wilders said the aim of the sticker is not to hurt people but to shock them. ‘My aim is to free people from the yoke of Islam and to tell them what Islam stands for,’ he said.