Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Raising the Drawbridge

I’ve written a couple of times before over my worries that the Dutch government will make it illegal to hold dual nationality.

We seem to be getting close to that position. Last Friday, the Dutch Cabinet decided to go ahead with legislation aimed at reducing the number of people with dual nationality.

The idiotic thing is that it will not affect those who are presumably the real targets of this xenophobic drive. The real targets (in the sights of the “Little Hollander” view of the PVV and its supporters) are the Turks and Moroccans who settle here. Unfortunately (from the PVV’s perspective), they are required, by their country of birth, to hold onto their original nationality. So the proposed law cannot apply to them. Meanwhile, others, whose country of birth is more relaxed about the holding of dual nationality, will be required to renounce their birth nationality, simply because the Dutch government can make it so.

So I’ll be forced to renounce my British and Manx nationalities, merely to satisfy the xenophobia of the Dutch government and the PVV. A plague on them both.

Meanwhile, in other news, Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV, announced today that the Netherlands should leave the Euro and return to the Guilder.

The drawbridge is being raised a little further every day…

Categories:

,

2 responses to “Raising the Drawbridge”

  1. Robert Dammers Avatar
    Robert Dammers

    I don’t know if it is the case in the Netherlands, but the elephant in the room might be the EU concept of citizenship. I lost my Dutch citizenship when I turned 21 because they just made it so hard to maintain my dual nationality. My elder sister had insisted on maintaining both on her marriage, and she had a “Bewijs van Nederlandschap” leaf inserted into her British passport. But even then (1970s), it was frowned upon – because citizenship of any EU member state was equivalent – wasn’t it?

    On your second point, the question is, surely, whether the Euro region splits into a Northern Euro (because the Guilder had been a cheap Deutschmark for years) and a Southern Euro, or whether the Southern Eurozone is itself not an optimal currency region, which would mean separate exits for the Drachma (which would inflate out of trouble) and the Peseta, Punt and Lira (which don’t have a severe spending crisis, and only require a different interest rate).

    Reply
    1. Geoff Coupe Avatar
      Geoff Coupe

      I’d be happy to be an EU citizen – but that’s not what the politicians are thinking about. I’d even be relatively happy (up to a point) with a two-tier Euro – but that’s not what Wilders is talking about.

      It seems to me that I am looking outwards, and the Dutch politicians are looking inwards… Inclusiveness vs exclusiveness…

      Reply

Leave a reply to Geoff Coupe Cancel reply

More posts