Dutch Prime Minister, Jan-Peter Balkenende said that fellow national European leaders, meeting in Brussels for the spring EU summit, had offered his country broad solidarity should militant demonstrations take place in the Muslim world or in Europe in reaction to the release Geert Wilders’ Fitna.

The Dutch prime minister said he sensed broad agreement from other EU heads of government that they would act together to prevent violence from taking place if, as expected, Mr Wilders manages to have his film shown at some point this month.

At a meeting of fellow Christian Democrat leaders ahead of the summit, Mr Balkenende underlined that while the Dutch government does not support what may be contained in the film, it does nonetheless support Mr Wilders’ right to freedom of expression.

Danish liberal Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen strongly backed his colleague, saying the Netherlands can count on solidarity from other member states.

“Even if we fundamentally disagree with the vision (of Wilders), that can never justify taking violent actions,” said Mr Balkenende.

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