General elections in the Netherlands will be held in the middle of this month, and while the campaign enters the final phase the media is mostly filled by controversial radical rightist Geert Wilders with his populism, aggressive policy against foreigners, as well as anti-Islamic messages. About the political situation in this important country, as well as our citizens there, talked Bosnian woman Nermina Kundic from Travnik, who is a very successful politician of the liberal party D66.
It was all because of love. Nermina ended up in the Netherlands because of her current husband Ronnie, who was the EU observer in our country.
“He was already a member of D66, so activism in politics was a normal thing to do. The Netherlands was political ideal for me: a country where was not looked at your religion and nationality, where anyone who wanted to achieve something could do it with their work, the country where tolerance, individual freedom, equality, inclusion were the core values of the society. After 2001, the political situation started to change. Populist Pim Fortuyn marked foreigners, especially Moroccans, as a major problem in the country because of crime and lack of integration. His politics frightened me, it was not a solution for problems that were partly realistic, but it was about identity. This reminded me of the situation in the former Yugoslavia and I decided to get activated. For me, D66 was the only party that has not moved in that direction even at the cost of losing the mandate. I joined them and became the secretary of the party in Zeist, where we then lived,” she said.
She quickly progressed and became elected councilor, and she was later nominated for the best counselor in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands today is not what it was when Kundic came from BiH, and she says: “The situation from 2001 with Fortuyn until today with Wilders got a lot worse. Do not get me wrong, the situation in comparison to the one in BiH is still excellent. Populism has become the main way of winning votes, while none of the parties are not coming with real solutions to the problems. Political parties that are more in the center of the political spectrum and advocate for tolerance and inclusiveness lost a lot, but some of them also returned. Most Dutch people know that this country is dependent on the rest of Europe and the world and do not want to lose their freedom and prosperity.”
“In the Netherlands live between 20 and 30 thousand people from BiH. However, it is difficult to determine the exact number because most of us were born in the former Yugoslavia and we are registered like that. We think that we are among the best integrated immigrant groups with the highest levels of education. Bosnians are not organized as a special group, but we are individually active in all areas,” says Nermina.
“Most people from BiH vote for the Workers Party (PvdA), a small part for D66, but I do not know whether this is representative data. I think that we are present in several political options including Wilders,” stated Kundic.
“It is almost impossible to compare political situation in BiH with the one in the Netherlands. Bosnian political history and culture are a lot different. We can compare what I call the politics of fear and division. While politics divides people in relation to their identity, religion, nationality, origin, and sexuality, the attention is drawn from things that people really need and that politics should secure, such as quality, security, education, job and wages, a reliable government and care for those who are unemployed. BiH needs a liberal policy with a large dose of solidarity. In my opinion, this is the only way for our country to overcome divisions and move forward,” said Nermina Kundic.
(Source: R. D./Klix.ba)
