Far right FvD got two major cash donations from abroad last year

A virtually empty parliament during the debate. Photo: Bart Maat/ANP via HH
A virtually empty parliament during the debate. Photo: Bart Maat/ANP via HH

The home affairs ministry has published its annual review of the gifts, debts and financial reports provided by the 15 parties and individuals represented in parliament.

The review shows that the far right Forum voor Democratie has failed to provide proper details of how many members it had on January 1, 2019, and that this could impact the amount of support it gets from central government, the Telegraaf said.

Central government gives subsidies to parties to run their operation in The Hague depending on the number of members. FvD has until November 1 to deliver a certified accountant’s report.

The party now claims to have over 48,000 members, more than any other political grouping in the Netherlands.

The review also includes all donations of at least €4,500. FvD reported the biggest donation from a single person, that of €355,000 from a businessman in Hong Kong. The party also received €50,000 from a person in Cyprus.

The far right PVV also reported an anonymous gift of €53,000. As anonymous gifts are not allowed, the party has passed this amount, minus €1,000, on to the home affairs ministry, website TPO said.

Several parties require their MPs to donate part of their salaries to the party apparatus, including the SP, D66, PvdA and GroenLinks. These donations above €4,500 are also reported in the register.

In 2018, a parliamentary commission called for a ban on any foreign donations ‘in an effort to ‘prevent unwanted influence on Dutch democracy’.

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