Leiden bars extreme right student group from recruitment events

Leiden University has banned the extreme right-wing student association GNSV from advertising club membership to new students during introduction weeks, following years of complaints and an investigation by the national security services.

The intelligence security body AIVD released a report detailing how the group hides behind moderate rhetoric to draw students in, while spreading far-right political agendas privately. Some members have been inspired to plot terror attacks.

Last year, one of its members was arrested for possession of firearms after a raid on his home in Erp in Bradant. The police were tipped off that he was planning a terror attack.

The GNSV, or Greater Netherlands Student Association, is known for spreading conspiracy theories like the Great Replacement, and advocating for remigration. The security services’ report said its members privately hold “deeply racist” views.

Dutch News spoke to its members at Leiden in 2024, where one of the group’s members discussed the idea that Flanders and the Netherlands should reunite and that too many immigrants were coming to the country.

The ban will take effect from next summer, the Volkskrant reported on Thursday. It follows three years of protests against the group’s presence at the event, which is aimed at new students.

“We do not want to offer space for that at our introduction market,” Leiden’s rector magnificus, Sarah de Rijcke, wrote on the university website.

Radboud University in Nijmegen barred the GNSV from its own introduction market immediately after the report came out. In Leiden, eight local council parties asked questions about the university’s policy.