Thierry Baudet, Frederik Jansen and John Laughland travelled to Washington DC last week to attend the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity’s annual conference, this year entitled ‘Blueprint for Peace’. Thierry was one of the speakers, alongside Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Colonel Douglas MacGregor, Judge Napolitano and Max Blumenthal. Prior to the conference, which was superb, they were honoured to have a private meeting with the US Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who told them about his plans to Make America Healthy Again and much else besides. (Amsterdam Books has&nbsp;<a href="https://amsterdambooks.nl/products/robert-kennedy-jr-de-gevaarlijkste-dr-op-aarde?variant=44210666569959">published</a> a Dutch translation of R. F. Kennedy’s book about Dr Anthony Fauci, whence the connection.) There is a genuine wind of change in D.C., so unlike sclerotic Europe where nothing seems ever to change.<a href="https://x.com/FVD_Intl/status/1956346322119709009">Watch Thierry’s video here</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdnV6jtIedpt9uHXtdMwc8xOy93AilyWlKOzWV46t6s6m72IbmeVpkc8Q-Sz33UeG3fzo-YBdO_JqPUfGlkU4wN0RDpZjdSxlIqX438loyNTkclObFqoRqqjcUWFkYwYc-iDigUbw?key=yavqesIum1jmsDiNM19PHw">Mr Baudet goes to Washington – why? Not only because FVD has always wanted to have an international reach but also because such trips lead to immensely fruitful exchanges. Among other private meetings, Thierry, Freek and John also had dinner with Pete Marocco, Elon Musk’s right-hand man at DOGE. Pete is the person who shut down USAID, a state within a state and a cornerstone of the deep state and what ought to be known as the politico-corruption complex. It was an immense privilege to be so close to people who are making real changes – the sort of real changes we urgently need in Europe.<a href="https://x.com/thierrybaudet/status/1957718517278495174">Watch Thierry’s video here</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdlYHxurJVMq389p4DR776CCsP0wvoYjXOW23M9rfvjShYmQbXxS33PCdivutD47UqC1-lC8jLVX_f8Vo7WrQWS5mgAXnqkYu5LWnS0GuL4Bul2cI7oTGLL5do5b3KFWqZrGej66w?key=yavqesIum1jmsDiNM19PHw">While FVD was in Washington, Presidents Trump and Putin were meeting in Alaska. This was followed by a strange euro-summit in the White House on Monday – strange because the Europeans travelled to Washington to be humiliated by Trump. Personally humiliated – ‘Keir Starmer, you are doing so well, everybody likes you’ (his approval rating is 13%); ‘Ursula, you have more power than any of these guys’ (she does); ‘Where is the president of Finland?’ (he was sitting opposite Trump) – and politically humiliated, as Trump trashed all of Europe’s red lines in Ukraine by proposing the cession of territory and negotiations without a ceasefire. The Europeans responded with rare obsequiousness and servility, an illustration of how far Europe has sunk and how far it will sink yet if there is no real change. FVD International director gave RT an interview about all this.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlGzXsMuX5s&amp;t=56s">Watch John Laughland’s interview here</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdOas0WXPENRAX3hCumxWT9Up-Cag_VJKDm3QetLdb-uaAxsUFEakBwcLdpXn2MXKqmhd7ASZDTHK51kdAa5IBo4Ux56D2FWNQVCROno7yt3sKFhePyAvNVNOozbZ-0sCgZjobE4w?key=yavqesIum1jmsDiNM19PHw">We discussed ‘Ukraine – what next?’ on The Forum this week, with Mark Sleboda and George Szamuely. The consensus was that the summitry is theatre and that the war will continue indefinitely. Afghanistan lasted 20 years. Why should the Ukraine war not last just as long?<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMPGwKmwjCo&amp;ab_channel=FVDInternational">Watch The Forum here</a>

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The Weekly Forum - 21 August

The Dutch parliament was recalled from its summer recess this week but not to discuss anything to do with the Netherlands or Europe.&nbsp; Instead, the subject was Gaza - something over which European MPs have little or no control.&nbsp; Unlike the governing Freedom Party of Geert Wilders - which supports Israel “100%”, to quote one of Wilders’ X-posts - Forum for Democracy initially tried to stay neutral in the latest war.&nbsp; However the excesses (to put it mildly) of the Israeli regime have made even instinctive Israel supporters recoil in horror. Thierry Baudet told Parliament that he thought that Israel has gone too far and that the mass killing in Gaza is both inhumane and counter-productive.&nbsp; Not only will it breed future generations of Palestinian fighters - and thus prolong the cycle of revenge indefinitely, without apparently any victory yet in sight - it is also jeopardising the plight of Jews around the world who get the blame.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLIJ7-oM8OI&amp;ab_channel=FVDInternational">Watch Thierry’s speech here (translated by AI)</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfiaXDsE8K3rgCVc96NeobOjItZooGp9Aeb5XOmG3t1vMs5uNKTDJg6S6rMnlIMSXDQBgBVk6ttJvqOQDVzPLku3rJImm8X3H4fxhBO37_N8wRdRsuUwz3O7gOlb25xfQqbfooCpg?key=TOhF_6hClxX1hPXDAlZ2PA">Thierry gave a long interview (in Dutch) to the podcaster Benjamin Wortman this week. They discussed politics, nationalism, Christianity and how to think independently. We have extracted a section where Thierry tackles the last of these.&nbsp; Quoting Alexis de Tocqueville, who foresaw that democracy would lead to an increase in the power of the state – a new form of despotism – Thierry explained that it is exceptionally difficult to think independently. Politics suffers greatly from the phenomenon of the crowd – from the tendency of people to go with the flow, or to vote for parties simply because they are high in the polls, however weak their actual record while in office. This means that the liberal paradigm of democracy – that each individual rationally pursues his own self-interest and reflects on it before entering the polling booth – is anthropologically false. As Gustave Le Bon wrote over a century ago, crowds accumulate not intelligence but mediocrity.<a href="https://x.com/FVD_Intl/status/1955936346993766885">Watch the clip of Thierry’s interview here (translated by AI)</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXefW_W9_rFhfJuXtMt6DeL6HV8ivkg2rw_LqP_1ZEyFHirFYz1d5megiK3nl5rpMpaRtMGM7wgeluoCzMffdqE8AgwntTeU_JBmIvbObN4OSkzxh9UbibBFbpXR1PbIfMFNb_SO?key=TOhF_6hClxX1hPXDAlZ2PA">FVD International’s director, John Laughland, gave a lecture at the Young FVD summer camp in Burgundy last month, on Western nihilism.&nbsp; The noted French demographer, Emmanuel Todd, used the concept in his latest book,&nbsp;The Defeat of the West, and John developed the idea claiming that it explains a range of phenomena which dominate modern politics – ideology and the obsession with controlling the narrative; the obsession with fictitious political constructs like the EU, Bosnia, Kosovo or even Ukraine; globalism, which ultimately stems from a belief in the essential one-ness of reality and from a hatred of multiplicity; an exaggerated belief in ‘science’; the obsession with trans ideology and the cult of indeterminacy; and of course violence.&nbsp; This last point is perhaps the most obvious and was well characterised by Turgenev in&nbsp;Fathers and Sons where one character accuses the nihilist Bazarov of wanting to destroy everything, whereas “one must construct, too, you know” - to which Bazarov replies, “That is not our business . . . we must first clear the ground.”<img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdgrYxzXh4-as0RhHudE7yBhxWf034gQDUpbW59dOY0SmJ4yTzzfCqLoGbjgfkEEjcXXT99pJDQF-l_jUXD3KkD8Mkv_MVj_rqH5xxm7sKKj_ILcVDNdvdZ7upISGCb6iI7afYMSw?key=TOhF_6hClxX1hPXDAlZ2PA">Patrick Wood, who has just completed his third book on technocracy, was our wonderful guest on The Forum this week.&nbsp; Technocracy is the hallmark of globalism and the true scourge of our era.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-75w47Gni1o&amp;t=14s&amp;ab_channel=FVDInternational">Listen back to The Forum here</a>

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The Weekly Forum - 14 August

It often happens in summer that politicians break off their holidays because of some crisis or other.&nbsp; The long break Parliaments typically take indeed does not mean that the world stops.&nbsp; Often, too, these decisions are taken for reasons of P.R. – to give the impression of doing something. Thus, the Dutch Parliament reconvened this week to debate the humanitarian situation in Gaza, also known as genocide. Emotions ran high on both sides of the argument, as they typically do whenever the intractable Middle East conflict is discussed, and higher even than when European or national issues are discussed. By contrast, the same Dutch Parliament refused Thierry Baudet’s request to convene during the summer recess to discuss the EU-US trade deal shoved down Ursula von der Leyen’s throat at Donald Trump’s golf course in Scotland. The other Dutch political parties all prefered to discuss something over which they have no power – Israel – instead of something which concerns them directly and over which they should have power, and would have if they left the EU.<a href="https://fvdinternational.com/article/thierry-baudet-calls-on-parliament-to-return-to-debate-the-eu-trump-trade-deal">Read Thierry’s letter to the party leaders here</a> <img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXea65AEtrjZnx0rdekn_xsVASjoMpq42oRGUhpIuycKrj4YO5Ur92pVFq6433kwxW2lAgWNbZS0gf2XguOC7wpHeATIVUccaSZEoUlTwNnPWqdgEY4twAS7O66uFs9MS5oNQI4j2A?key=lGgjgDacy0-sHsecuen2FA">FVD International’s director, John Laughland, was interviewed at length by Jeremy Nell for UK column recently. The video has just been published.&nbsp; Jeremy Nell is one of John’s two co-hosts, both professional broadcasters, for FVD International’s weekly video podcast,&nbsp;<a href="https://email.email.fvd.nl/c/eJwUzEuKLCEQQNHV6FDSiFDTgYMHhfsw_LwqSNvG_FG7b3J2uYNTgnaYs6xBO0NmBTRGvgPaltcChb1xrVoAzWn1jiyTI3ZafgL6imB18p5sq2C9Y9RU2sKo2dgkaGlXUT-b3ML7OH53gf8ERAHxvm_1HedxclV59GfSEsc8exvzVfvIM-WvgLgfs6a-C4yzbiMVgS8vwGaeT2o5Q1KXYnWN3TtBy_-ePttDyivAXwAAAP__e1xBGw">The Forum</a>. On the UK column show, they discussed immigration – or rather the industrially organised process of mass population transfer which has been underway for decades into Europe and which shows no sign of abating. John insisted that this mass migration is being driven by economics, ideology and criminality. Only very significant sums of money can explain this huge logistical exercise which consists in transporting people thousands of kilometres into another country, often illegally and at great danger to their lives.<a href="https://www.ukcolumn.org/video/mass-immigration-and-the-death-of-europe">Watch John’s interview here</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfF9HCQ2kiAUuvkziqOXi5M3RsEumvO4jz7NE_qtAajDQe1TTm2giA5JT4T_7eSMd7uPrgAq38Elqe5Lwjwd3yy0kETPyqTcI_71FTyeXF2oIZ0ivCowBBuVCQ228QrKBnAIkG--Q?key=lGgjgDacy0-sHsecuen2FA">Meanwhile, what makes ideas work? Is it their intrinsic worth or are social factors involved? Sid Lukkassen is convinced that anthropology is the key to success. People will admire and follow a person and his ideas if the setting and the perspective are right – if there is the right sort of show or stage. By contrast, they will ignore or miss even great ideas and talents if the anthropological mechanisms are not in place. The key to success, he says, is decorum. The way you present yourself, and the way you think about yourself, is undoubtedly the key to the way others will see and appreciate you.<a href="https://fvdinternational.com/article/from-rowling-to-ronaldo-the-all-determining-power-of-decorum">Read Sid Lukkassen’s article here</a> &nbsp;

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The Weekly Forum - 7 August

This interesting message just came across, from J.K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter.“I promise you this: in ten years' time, a lot of women who are now pushing the gender identity agenda will claim they were always TERFs - just like people who pretend they survived terrorist attacks when they were never even close to them.”FeminismTERF stands for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. Rowling claims that those who are now opportunistically going along with gender ideology in order to preserve their careers, status, and/or “ally” points will claim in the future that they were always critical of it. A bit like how, after World War II, almost everyone suddenly claimed to have been in the resistance.As for the truth of Rowling's claim, I strongly doubt it. There is a good chance that feminism will soon cease to exist altogether. Simply because Muslims, closely followed by orthodox Christians, are demographically overtaking the left-wing progressives: a group that is already reluctant to have children because of their ‘ecological footprint’ and ‘impact on the climate’.DocilityBut that's not what I want to talk to you about. I want to talk to you about decorum. Because what Rowling is getting at is that people are not very steadfast. They just make things up and opportunistically adopt opinions. They look around and try to imitate what they see. If an ideology is in vogue, they copy that ideology in order to ‘fit in’ and ‘not be left out’.That's a hugely important point, and I want to dwell on it with you. Just think of the experiment involving a group of people who had to estimate how long a meter is. Most of the people in the room were paid actors who deliberately exaggerated: they took a length of two meters and called it a meter. The people who were not acting went along with it and chose larger sizes, even though they knew better. The urge to conform socially proved stronger than individual judgment. &nbsp;When people are docile and copy each other just a little, widely held views are little more than echoes and mirror images. Pro-trans today, anti-trans tomorrow: it just depends on which way the wind blows, which is exactly what Rowling is pointing out. Now the question is where originality comes from. What is the source of new ideas? &nbsp;The original source of originalityHere we must refer to The Fountainhead (1943) by philosopher Ayn Rand. Literally: the eternal source, that source representing the primal point from which new insights and ideas are unlocked. Geniuses and visionaries are rare and lonely—their ideas trickle down to the masses only in small doses. Rand describes how the history of ideas is actually a war between artistic elites for the soul of the masses, who are incapable of original thinking themselves.To illustrate this, the book tells the life story of the brilliant architect Howard Roark. Through this character's struggles, the author shows how an idea, however valuable, cannot simply enjoy social interest. There is a whole power structure surrounding this, because ideas have to pass through a tollgate of social gatekeepers. Decorum: the pivotal point&nbsp;Now we have come to the point I want to discuss with you: decorum. Because, as just described, those ideas are either made important and visible, or they are ignored and pushed to the margins. It does not matter how talented the artist is. Roark is surrounded by mediocre architects who win all kinds of awards, while he is overlooked.Most people have little internal baggage, and when they hear a piece of music or analyze architecture, for example, they have no idea on what basis to judge it. They have no feeling for the internal qualities that elevate a work above mediocrity. So they think: the musician performed on a talk show, stood on a stage, I'm sure I won't make a fool of myself if I affiliate myself with this.This situation is very similar to what Paul Cliteur observed about the policy of bookstores in the Netherlands: books expressing the views of Jesse Klaver and Femke Halsema are displayed next to the cash register, while right-wing books are tucked away in a corner at the back of the store. This is all a deliberate tactic to establish normality through the decorum of placement. &nbsp;Cristiano Ronaldo &amp; Joshua BellTwo more examples to underscore this point. World-famous soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo disguised himself as a random guy and started playing soccer with people on the street. He did all his famous tricks, but at most attracted the attention of a child, while the rest walked by unsuspectingly. When he revealed himself, many wanted to take a picture with him...World-famous violinist Joshua Bell played in the subway and barely attracted any attention from passers-by. They did not notice his exceptional talent, even though he had sold out a theatre in Boston the day before, where attendees paid a hundred dollars for a seat.These two examples prove that it is the setting, the stage—whether it be the soccer field of professional soccer or the theatre—that allows the masses to recognize and appreciate talent as talent. Whoever possesses the setting possesses the power to determine the future of culture.&nbsp;Relationship marketIt is no coincidence that Rowling is talking about women. Renzo Verwer wrote about the love market and noted that musicians have a lot of sex, simply because the musician is on stage and, by virtue of his profession, is the centre of attention. This automatically means validation and appreciation from the group. Verwer wrote something like: “Pick up that instrument, step onto the stage, and start playing; you'll see how the breasts and buttocks sway your way as if by magic.”&nbsp;And if I have to translate this into my own context, I can only confirm it. Where did I meet my girlfriends? I once spoke about my book at the FVD’s youth wing, I presented a book at FVD itself, and I spoke in the Provincial Council chamber. Relationships arose from this, and it is certainly no coincidence that all those contacts started from an unequal relationship. I was the ‘expert’, the writer, the speaker, and the women in question were organisers or visitors.&nbsp;Evolution and social approvalAfterwards, the ladies naturally deny that it had anything to do with decorum, but it's all too coincidental for that. I would even dare to say that many of them have more of a relationship with decorum than with the man in question.If we look at evolution, men can survive outside the group a little more easily than women: it is also the men who break away from groups and find new ones, thus ensuring an influx of fresh genes. So it is not surprising that women are even more dependent on group consensus and group validation than men in terms of their actions and thinking. Their default mode is often to first gauge what the group thinks about something and only then come to an individual judgment. &nbsp;Destroy the enemy's decorumNo matter how brilliant or talented you are, Cristiano Ronaldo and Joshua Bell prove that it will not be noticed unless you start with decorum. That is the only starting point for building something with a chance of success. The same applies to relationships, because women still long for a man they can admire. And that admiration is often not something that comes from their own “inner source,” their inner “fountainhead,” but something they copy from what they see manifested as social consensus.The lesson here is that you don't win the debate by presenting better arguments and facts. The audience has little idea what you're talking about. They judge based on superficialities: “Gosh, that cute blonde lady in the audience looks happy (or unhappy) when he speaks.” If you want to win the battle, you have to destroy your opponent's decorum. &nbsp;

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From Rowling to Ronaldo: the all-determining power of decorum

Thierry Baudet has requested that the House of Representatives return from recess to hold an emergency debate on the trade deal concluded between Ursula von der Leyen for the EU and President Trump. This deal, which includes 15% tariffs on Dutch exports to the US, and an obligation for Europe to purchase $750 billion worth of American energy, is disastrous for the Dutch economy and sovereignty.The House must take action on this as soon as possible. FVD is counting on the support of all other political parties.&nbsp;See below for the letter sent by Baudet.<hr>&nbsp;Dear Party Leaders,On behalf of the Forum for Democracy party, I urgently call on you and your parties to support a request for an emergency debate in the House of Representatives, before the end of the current recess. The reason for this is the recent trade deal which Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, concluded with US President Donald Trump on July 27, 2025. This deal, which includes 15% tariffs on EU exports to the United States and an obligation for the EU to purchase $750 billion worth of American energy, poses a direct threat to the Dutch economy, sovereignty, and interests. Given the urgency of this matter, which cannot wait until after the recess, I ask you to submit this request jointly to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.The urgency of this emergency debate cannot be underestimated. The deal was concluded while the House of Representatives was in recess, without any prior consultation with national parliaments or a democratic mandate from the member states. With a deadline of August 1 for further implementation, the Netherlands is at risk of facing irreversible economic damage in the short term. If we do not take action now, the government will be forced to accept this agreement, leading to higher costs for Dutch citizens and businesses. This emergency debate is essential to hold the government accountable and discuss possible countermeasures before the deal is finally ratified and the damage is irreparable.The disadvantages for the Netherlands are numerous and far-reaching. Firstly, the 15% tariffs on EU exports will deal a severe blow to our export-oriented economy. As one of the largest exporters within the EU, the Netherlands will suffer disproportionately from these barriers: sectors such as agriculture, chemicals, technology, and mechanical engineering—accounting for billions of euros in annual exports to the US—will see their competitive position seriously weakened. This will lead to job losses, higher prices for consumers, and a contraction of the Dutch economy, which is already under pressure from inflation and energy crises.In addition, the deal forces the EU to make massive purchases of American energy, which makes the Netherlands dependent on foreign suppliers and undermines our energy independence. Instead of investing in our own energy sources, such as our own Groningen gas field and the construction of nuclear power plants, we are forced to spend billions on American fossil fuels. The Netherlands has sufficient fossil reserves and potential for nuclear energy to be self-sufficient, but this deal blocks those possibilities and keeps us trapped in dependence on imports. This will lead to higher energy prices for Dutch households and industry, and increase our vulnerability to geopolitical fluctuations.Moreover, this deal underscores the fundamental problems of the EU: von der Leyen acts as an unelected bureaucrat without taking national interests into account, further eroding Dutch sovereignty. The Netherlands is paying the price for a compromise that mainly benefits larger EU countries, while we, as a smaller nation, are disproportionately affected. This is a wake-up call: we must reclaim our own trade policy and no longer allow Brussels to make deals that harm us.In order to force this urgent debate, we need at least 30 signatures from members of parliament, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure. Forum for Democracy will submit this request to the Speaker and calls on you to participate by signing and encouraging your fellow party members to do the same. Let us act together to protect the interests of the Netherlands. I propose that this urgent debate be scheduled as soon as possible.Yours sincerely,&nbsp;Thierry Baudet &nbsp;

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Thierry Baudet calls on Parliament to return to debate the EU-Trump trade deal 

The Dutch Parliament has gone into summer recess but FVD’s parliamentarians and friends continue to be active. Eric van de Beek, a journalist with De Andere Krant (The Other Newspaper) has published a concise English version of his earlier books on the MH-17 affair – the Malaysian airliner which crashed in Ukraine in 2014 and which the West accused the Russians of shooting down. Eric is convinced that the evidence does not support this claim, which played a key role in ramping up support for the Ukrainians in the aftermath of the Maidan coup in February 2014, and at a time when Kiev was hammering the Donbass militarily causing horrific civilian casualties (which no one heard about at the time or since). &nbsp;Eric is the only journalist to have followed every day of the trial of four Russian and Ukrainian defendants in a Dutch court – the only one of the four who defended himself was acquitted - and is convinced that the court’s conviction of the other three is unsafe.<a href="https://fvdinternational.com/article/new-book-the-mh-17-trial">Read about Eric van de Beek's book here</a>&nbsp;<img src="/uploads/unnamed_670038199d.jpg">Friends of FVD include people who have kindly appeared on <a href="https://email.email.fvd.nl/c/eJxEzDtuxCAQANDTQGkxmOFTUESKuAcMgzbSskQYr-XbR6m2fcWrEdxOJDmCQ-0QrVHyERnQepubzoFLVs1DrRRMLQHA6sDyJ-aAij2XsjvnbW2IqgI2y54sUgNhVHvX7fWUz_hY6_cQ-5fQSeh0Xdd2j3OdhTca_R-NSmOevY35zX3QzHQLnY41OfdDzlgmv9ZnfEf9FwAA__9VJji_">The Forum</a>, our weekly video podcast, or whose articles we are honoured to re-publish. &nbsp;Two of these, Professor Glenn Diesen of the University of South-East Norway and former Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, have recently recorded a podcast as part of Glenn Diesen’s ‘Greater Eurasia’ series. &nbsp;Their discussion ranged over many issues but concentrated on Europe, wokeism and the Ukraine war. &nbsp;Klaus is an exceptional figure who has spoken at FVD’s Renaissance Institute and whom FVD International's director, John Laughland, has known since the 1990s, while Glenn Diesen is making his name as one of the leading commentators on international affairs.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iCVr1L2cLs">Watch the Klaus-Diesen discussion here</a>&nbsp;<img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfU5LDCYFr2HhLtFWh9YflI8mrl3xGF1vxIs649kg7y0WS9GJ4odterQ98pu2_kyY3c0EaJI5IL7c4ZZDo81oRF3Qh8vx-jUbC_Dw5bcdcjc477XA6jtvu-ApKkpKSWhMU5rwkj?key=Ss9EarHbtBeyDA_RDrKo_g"><img src="/uploads/unnamed_8551cd2f4e.png">And while on the subject of exceptional figures, we were delighted to have Ulrike Guérot as our guest on The Forum this week. Ulrike is an emblematic figure of our time. &nbsp;A graduate of German universities and Sciences-Po in Paris, she has spent her career as a political scientist and in various think-tanks including the German Marshall Fund and the European Council on Foreign Relations. &nbsp;In short, hers has been a successful establishment trajectory. &nbsp;Things started to go wobbly when she questioned the draconian Covid restrictions in 2020 – you see, she believes in democracy and the rule of law – but then severely downhill when she started to call for peace with Russia after 2022. &nbsp;This has led to her dismissal as professor of European politics at the University of Bonn – she is a victim of Europe’s new authoritarianism. Ulrike is convinced that Europe will survive only if its political structure – whatever that is – encompasses the whole of the European continent, i.e. including its largest country which the EU is determined to exclude.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKbph8oZXYc&amp;ab_channel=FVDInternational">Listen back to The Forum here</a>

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 The Weekly Forum - 17 July

On 17 July 2014, flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine. All 298 passengers, most of them Dutch, were killed. The JIT investigation team was unable to find out who fired the shot, on whose orders it was done and why. However, the District Court of The Hague convicted two Russians and one Ukrainian. They were allegedly involved in the application and transport of the murder weapon. A fourth suspect, Oleg Pulatov, was acquitted.Is it true that MH17 was shot down by a Russian missile? Or should the perpetrators be sought elsewhere? The author of the book ‘The MH17 Trial’ is the only journalist to have attended or viewed all 69 hearings of the MH17 criminal case. He discusses all the evidence presented by the public prosecutor – and the defence that Pulatov's lawyers put forward against his prosecution.Eric van de Beek is an investigative journalist. He studied journalism at Windesheim University and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. For years he worked as a journalist for Dutch leading weekly Elsevier. He currently writes for Dutch weekly De Andere Krant and produces news items for broadcaster Ongehoord Nederland. Van de Beek published two Dutch language books about the MH17 plane crash. In 2024 he won the Dutch Julian Assange Prize 'for public service’.Order it <a href="https://www.boekenbestellen.nl/ePUB/the-mh17-trial/9789090404004?lang=en">here</a>.<hr>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="/uploads/Gvx_NSZTXAAA_1h9_J_066a4f9036.jpeg"></figure>Eric van de Beek has covered Dutch involvement in the MH17 coverup like a junkyard dog – in the tradition of the late Robert Parry. Ray McGovern, former CIA officerThe book on the MH17 case by Dutch journalist Eric van de Beek is a splendid example of how investigative journalism should work. A ‘must read’ for all those who expect from journalism critical questioning and solid analysis. Cees J. Hamelink, emeritus professor International Communication, University of AmsterdamI’m very thankful to Eric for writing this book. If you want to be informed, this book is of inestimable value. Anouk van Toulon van der Koog, surviving relativeThorough investigative work and represented very adequate As a retired detective from the Belgian Federal Judicial Police, I could not have done better. Eduard Baekelmans, former police officer

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New book: The MH17 Trial

Following the 2023 elections in the Netherlands, a government was formed on the basis of a coalition agreement between four parties. Its budgetary provisions included a 300 million euro cut in pandemic preparedness. It was on the basis of this agreement – validated by Parliament - that the government took office. At some later point, however, the health minister was informed – by the NCTV counter-terrorism service, no less – that NATO obligations prevented the cut from being made. When FVD put down questions about these obligations, the government replied that they were secret - because NATO insists they be secret. In other words, the policy and spending decisions of NATO member states, including on domestic issues like health, are not taken by the elected government but instead in secret behind the backs of Parliament and therefore the electorate. You would have thought this would cause an outrage in the Chamber. But when FVD MP Pepijn van Houwelingen asked for a debate on this very obvious ‘black hole at the heart of our democracy’, a majority of parties voted against any debate on the matter. What are they trying to hide?<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkymzV-S5H4&amp;ab_channel=FVDInternational">Watch Pepijn’s speech here (translated by AI)</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfpSPe4Z1AFPpwX-KXBrgmD-qZtGRhaifO_kmd2GDa5Dndm5fhxUBU2Hhh9qzJFDSnBBVSLXFny7LU_9pRcyPAn2RcFTs12TPhJx2WkkAT4OBQrzYTq1Tw2AUdVkzrFKqA7G_0x?key=Ss9EarHbtBeyDA_RDrKo_g">Is there similar central control over energy policy? Just as Britain and France are making policy choices which will drive up the cost of energy and therefore drive down prosperity and growth, the Netherlands is doing the same. How can we be sure that global warming (if that is what it is) is caused by man and by CO2? Might it not be that warming is instead the cause of higher CO2 levels and not the result? The climate hysteria is all the more mysterious because even the International Panel on Climate Change, one of the main bodies pushing that hysteria, admits that there is no increase in extreme weather events like hurricanes or floods.&nbsp; Nonetheless, green policies are being pursued which will make energy more expensive – as even the poor minister, under rigorous questioning from Pepijn, was forced to admit. So people will become poorer because of an unproven scientific hypothesis.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm31CUChWmQ&amp;ab_channel=FVDInternational">Watch Pepijn cross-examine the energy minister here (translated by AI)</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfU5LDCYFr2HhLtFWh9YflI8mrl3xGF1vxIs649kg7y0WS9GJ4odterQ98pu2_kyY3c0EaJI5IL7c4ZZDo81oRF3Qh8vx-jUbC_Dw5bcdcjc477XA6jtvu-ApKkpKSWhMU5rwkj?key=Ss9EarHbtBeyDA_RDrKo_g">FVD party leader Thierry Baudet, FVD Senator Joris van den Oetelaar and FVD International director John Laughland were the guests in Vienna this week of Heinz-Christian Strache, former Vice-Chancellor of Austria, for a meeting organised by the international Patriots network. In his speech, Thierry emphasised that power does not come from politics but instead from the media and business. Money talks. The speakers agreed that remigration was essential but differed on questions of international politics, especially on the notion of ‘Western civilisation’, which Thierry said was code for the American empire, and on the conflict in the Middle East. You can watch the debate, in German - if necessary using the ‘automatic translate’ function on Youtube.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/wo9kyHKt8b8">Watch the Vienna debate here (Thierry starts at 25.35)</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeuaElA8iFcqqZToOMxhEAxRzDnFT9Op00gX9-uvhhJFpPEUmFJNuYNBov8-aJsGOHFxJHy7XRpo_8j9UqaQDlMyrU9BYzWRgkW6bPm0iSLnx84r2W48_B5OrtSnlUs1RfMVaxcLw?key=Ss9EarHbtBeyDA_RDrKo_g">Eva Bartlett, who lived in Gaza for several years, was our guest on The Forum this week and shared with us her experience of the decades of suffering there before the Hamas attacks of 2023. If you missed it, listen back below.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKbph8oZXYc&amp;ab_channel=FVDInternational">Listen back to The Forum here</a>

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The Weekly Forum - 10 July

Frans Timmermans, the former European Commissioner and veteran Dutch politician, may no longer look like Father Christmas (he has lost a lot of weight) but he still believes in fairy tales. In a recent exchange with Thierry Baudet in the Second Chamber of the Netherlands Parliament, he repeatedly claimed that Europe and the West embody law and stability, while Russia deploys the politics of force and subversion. This conviction is so deeply held that no facts can even dent it. The numerous&nbsp; wars of aggression waged by NATO and NATO states in the last quarter of a century do not count, for him, as acts of de-stabilisation; the US bombing of the European owned Nord Stream pipelines in 2022 does not, for him, threaten European prosperity. The events in Ukraine from 2014 onwards are all Russia’s fault while Europe and America watched from the sidelines. The reason why such fairy tales are believed with such intensity is that they are comforting. Unfortunately, comforting illusions cease to be so when they lead Europe, as now, into war – a war from which there will never be a way out if we listen to people like Timmermans who remain trapped in ideology, unable to confront the world as it really is.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCDZSu9xaic&amp;ab_channel=FVDInternational">Watch Thierry’s debate with Timmermans here</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcsp5RrxUatxjiLnXcHSIFZV-qp_aCnYdtkDMGk5hvPj_kRlajbj27baQ63Lg5iPrpoEeqTyyRDZN1KWF3PLToqlhd7GEDYMez8HRiUlYeoaMbFXtp5RGTHseIXrjGv3yBNYLq9NQ?key=hsmLJAJLaTzfEH3VeTlGGg">FVD believes that the EU, and other international institutions, are not only not the solution but also the very core of the problem. Just as ex-Royal Navy commodore Steven Jermy says of NATO that it exists to confront the threats created by its own existence, so FVD’s MP Gideon van Meijeren argued in Parliament recently that the war, uncontrolled immigration and economic malaise from which Europe suffers is not something the EU can solve but which it itself produces. This is because, being detached from popular sovereignty – and indeed regarding popular sovereignty with contempt – the EU is not based on interest but instead on ideology. Only FVD tackles problems that are their very root.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iSM8ec7wVw">Watch Gideon’s speech here</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXehJa6iiqIf6-x3_dRzf7KmC82zrA0X92zBmOpP6iiWIRWL09U72yPtbYWSKBLhLm16k3jJxKXzWt_v7wXuGf879nCXpSHbwgshXpWKZHg9xQsfX4KGuoK8TUDg2a3za3qwktjV?key=hsmLJAJLaTzfEH3VeTlGGg">So the question is, can any problems be solved while remaining in the EU?&nbsp; FVD has often taken Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party to task for having abandoned Nexit in its last election manifesto. Gideon van Meijeren questioned a PVV minister about this and she was clearly embarrassed at what appears to be opportunism: Nexit was ditched so that the PVV could enter the government. The PVV governed for over a year but was unable to control the very immigration against which it has campaigned for a quarter of a century. Oscar Wilde said that the advantage of having principles is that you can sacrifice them in the name of expediency. But the PVV’s sorry record shows that you do not win political battles by capitulating even before you have fought them.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8kZ_ptgzpI">Watch Gideon tackle the PVV here</a><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe6rWhPIMkIYnqgOQufCguAbPOCg6hD1r1ul-g2-6H-DojGHGzeR5iOe9dDvG97On_RUJ4Zo12hwPe6sZvM1jMxd00PUjkmPA1KIbypLV3xqMBnKaqKh-DS8izUroHO98kHboT63w?key=hsmLJAJLaTzfEH3VeTlGGg">The formidable Kit Klarenberg was our main guest on The Forum this week, talking about his special subject – the nefarious role played by the British secret services in their mission to maintain American hegemony. He claims that their determination is to create chaos in order to maintain American hegemony which, in turn, gives Britain a role in the world - as lapdog.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhLFdJP2A8E&amp;ab_channel=FVDInternational">Watch The Forum here</a>

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The Weekly Forum - 3 July

Forum for Democracy International

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🏛️ The Forum and Friends: The Great Replacement with Simon Elmer

🏛️ The Forum and Friends: Ukraine with Mark Sleboda

John Laughland Breaks Down Trump &amp; Zelensky’s Talks with European Leaders | FVD

🏛️ The Forum and Friends: Technocracy with Patrick Wood

Thierry Baudet in Emergency Debate on Gaza – Israel: 'A Disaster for All Parties Involved' | FVD

🏛️ The Forum and Friends: The MH17 Trial with Eric van de Beek

🏛️ The Forum and Friends: Europe's New Authoritarianism with Ulrike Guérot

Green Policies = Economic Suicide - Pepijn van Houwelingen vs Climate Minister Hermans (VVD) | FVD

🏛️ The Forum and Friends: Life and Death in Gaza with Eva Bartlett

NATO Overrules Dutch Parliament - Pepijn van Houwelingen | FVD

Forum for Democracy

FVD is a anti-globalist political party in the Netherlands founded and led by Thierry Baudet. John Laughland (right) is director of FVD International.

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