D66 headquarters in The Hague hit by firework bomb

A firework bomb has been thrown through the letterbox of D66’s headquarters in The Hague, triggering an explosion. The fire brigade was called shortly after 9pm on Thursday.

A suspect has been arrested, the police reported. No motive has yet been established.

Members of the progressive liberal party’s youth wing were inside when it happened but no one was injured. “They were, however, terrified,” a D66 spokesperson told broadcaster NOS.

Prime minister Rob Jetten, the party leader, branded the attack “a cowardly act of intimidation,” writing on social media: “for those who think they can instill fear, I have a message: in the democratic Netherlands, we will never allow ourselves to be silenced by violence.”

Condemnation

The attack has sparked widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum.

Defense minister Dilan Yeşilgöz described the actions as cowardly and said “threatening and intimidating a political party (or anyone else) is absolutely unacceptable.”

Gidi Markuszower, leader of the new far right party DNA, also denounced the attack. “An explosion at a party office is likely a targeted attack; not only on that specific party but on our rule of law and democracy,” he said. “We settle differences of opinion in the Netherlands with words, not with weapons.”

In September last year, rioters from an anti-immigration demonstration smashed the windows at the same D66 offices, set fire to a police car, and tried to storm the parliamentary complex. Police made 37 arrests; experts linked the attack to football hooligans operating under the banner of the far-right group Defend Netherlands.