Free speech?

Yesterday, something happened in Europe that really upset me: Geert Wilders, a dutch politician and an elected member of the dutch parliament, has been refused entry into the United Kingdom on grounds of being a thread to public order! 

What upsets me is the fact that a citizen of the EU is not free to go to another EU country and make use of your right of free speech! The UK had informed Wilders a day before via the Embassy that he would be refused entry. He chose to go anyway as he was being invited by members of the British parliament to show the controversial short movie Fitna (link to the english version) he has made. One has to know that Wilders is a right wing anti-islam campaigner who is very controversial in Holland too. I don't share his views at all but I still believe it must be possible in the so called "free" and united Europe to travel to another member state and make use of your right of free speech. If it starts here with such a "simple" refusal, where does it end some day...? Just to assume he might upset some or maybe even all parts of a society cannot be a reason to refuse him his right of free speech and ban him from entering the country! I hope he will appeal the UK's government's decision at court and fight for his right to enter the UK anyway as he was adviced to do by a dutch minister! Once again, I don't sympathize with his radical political views and I don't like his way of making politics in a very tabloid style manner but I believe he should be given the right to enter the UK and discuss his views with british politicians.

Here's an english language article of one of Holland's reputed newspapers, NRC Handelsblad.

Britain's BBC also reported on this.

A hug.