A - 21a Algemene Zaken (1) Speech burgemeester tijdens Transatlantic Mayors b

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Keynote address by Mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema At the Transatlantic Mayors Dialogue The Hague, 15 November 2022 (The spoken word takes precedence)

Esteemed Mayors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

At this Transatlantic conference, in times of war and shifting global order, let us pay tribute to Madaleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State of the United States, who passed away this year. A champion of international justice and democracy, who warned us about attacks on our democracies from outside dictators and from authoritarian forces from within.

At a time when a European democratic country is so brutally attacked from the outside, there is no better moment to strengthen our democracies at home.

That is why I am very pleased to announce that the City of Amsterdam will formally join the Strong Cities Network, to unite in the struggle against hatred and extremism.

Today I would like to talk about an important question for all democracies: how do we deal with groups that use our freedoms to attack democratic institutions?

This is not a new question, but the way democracy is being attacked has changed. The people attacking our democracies have changed. Pagina 1 van 8

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Until some years ago, let’s say untill 2016, the extremist danger mainly came in the form of violent jihadism. While jihadist terrorists have caused enormous bloodshed, the government’s response is relatively straightforward. Except for a very small group of people, the whole of society strongly condemns and opposes violent jihadism. Recently the Dutch counterterrorism coordinator concluded that extremist jihadism remains the prime source of danger today.

Terrorism is, however, not the only threat to our society. Extremism can attack free societies in other ways than by using violence.

This became evident during the covid crisis, when we had to enforce measures to slow the spread of the virus. In Amsterdam, every week, groups staged anti restrictions and antivaccination protests. People of all ages, cultural backgrounds and walks of life exercising their fundamental right to protest. A few of them believed in conspiracy theories, some others were fiercely opposed to vaccination. Their distrust of the vaccinations, and fear and stress caused by the crisis, were more common throughout society and among people who mean absolutely no harm.

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Unfortunately, a small group of extremists like hooligans, far-right activists and other violent elements turned a few of these protests into near violent events. They brought a gallow and suggested on social media to execute our minister for public health.

Now, thanks to vaccinations, most covid restrictions are lifted. But remaining small extremist groups have other enemies they can attack: The European Union, the World Economic Forum, invented paedophile networks, the so-called deep state, and so on. Furthermore, their views seem to be compatible with racism and antisemitism, misogynism and intolerance of sexual diversity. And more often than not, support for the Russian dictator.

These tiny groups sow the seeds of conspiracy theories and hate in the breeding grounds of multiple crises, like climate change, inflation, energy shortages, inequality and refugees. Crises that are also cause for legitimate concerns, political debate and activism. Unlike violent jihadism, the new extremist groups that pose a threat to democratic and free societies are not always easily distinguishable from legitimate activists. While a small minority within these groups are willing to use violence, most of them stick to using lies, provocation, online trolling, abuse and threats. Even with a small following they create confusion in a larger

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part of society and instil fear in the vulnerable individuals or groups they attack.

They can do this more easily today without being corrected by society because for years we have been seeing a process of declining decorum and politeness in our societies. From street culture to parliament, from football stadiums to talk shows, abusive language, misogynist or racist remarks, and even death threats have unfortunately become more common.

What these new extremist groups have in common is that they are against the institution of democratic government and the rule of law. They call it a conspiracy of elites that should be destroyed, including all the institutions that come with it, like law courts, science, journalism, arts and culture, etcetera. That is their cause and they do not rule out any means to achieve that.

In the Netherlands, for example, we have a few politicians taking pathetic, but not innocent, attempts to incite their small following to hate journalists and march on parliament, without completely discarding the use of violence.

But apart from these few overtly extremist elements, it is not always so easy to determine who the enemy is. With violent Jihadists, the overwhelming majority of society looks to the government to fight this enemy. But now the extremist groups’ main target is the government itself. Pagina 4 van 8

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Any action by the government, or by the people representing the government, are considered to be illegitimate in themselves. This anti-government attitude has a fertile breeding ground at a time in which trust in the government in general is in decline, again for very legitimate reasons. In the Netherlands for example, the government really destroyed thousands of people’s lives by falsely accusing them of fraud and making them, low income workers, pay enormous amounts of money.

Several coalition governments have been unable to agree on an effective way to deal with excessively high nitrogen emissions that block so many construction projects for badly needed housing, infrastructure and renewable energy production.

Traditionally, our country is built on minorities working together. Because of centuries of religious diversity and migration, not one single group has formed a majority. So, the protection of minority rights is crucial to the success of our country, especially in cities. Extremist groups although being minorities themselves, act in the name of silent majorities to attack the democratic system that protects minority rights.

How can we stop this new form of extremism that undermines our free and democratic societies? It is clear that we are faced with a complicated task that requires nuanced approaches. Pagina 5 van 8

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There is no blueprint but if we stick to a number of principles and objectives, we can strengthen our democratic societies in the long run.

First of all, we have to abide by our own democratic norms very strictly. I agree with the recent report of Amnesty International that staging protests should be treated as a fundamental right and not a public security problem. In Amsterdam we can also still do better, although I am proud of the Vredeseenheid, a special unit of the Amsterdam police that guides and protects protests. We should go to great lengths to respect people’s right to express their ideas also if they are objectionable.

People who hold high office should have thick skins. We should always welcome debate and invite criticism.

What is more, ministers, mayors and others who represent the government should be role models of decorum, of grace and dignity. By never abusing our political opponents. By never humiliating of our citizens.

At the same time, and this is the second point – we must speak up for the minorities who come under attack from extremist groups. Women, the LGBTQ community, etnic and religious minorities, journalists and scientists for example.

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Thirdly, we should acknowledge that our governments have often let people down, and we must work towards restoring our citizens’ trust and build a new relation with our citizens. By engaging less in legal procedures and more in human contact. By relying less on our communication departments and more on our street level bureaucrats, teachers and community workers. And by spending less time in the office and more time in the neighbourhoods that have been waiting for us to fulfil our promises.

Ladies and gentlemen,

These are not revolutionary ideas. The key is putting them into practice. And in this we can learn from each other. Our cities can play a vital role. We are close to our communities and keep a healthy distance to the sometimes-overheated debates in national parliaments.

In the coming years our countries will invest in national defence. That is absolutely necessary to guard our countries against outside attacks. Let us also not forget to defend our democracies against attacks from the inside. Because, as Madaleine Albright wrote: “The temptation is powerful to close our eyes and wait for the worst to pass, but history tells us that for freedom to survive, it must be defended […]”.

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Thank you. Have a great conference.

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