Dutch killing dramatises angst over Europe`s right

The killing of Dutch anti-immigration crusader Pim Fortuyn on Monday dramatised growing anxiety over the rise of extreme-right and xenophobic movements across Europe.

The attack by an unidentified gunman came just a day after French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen was defeated in a presidential election runoff he stunned the world by reaching.

Opinion polls had forecast that Fortuyn`s anti-immigrant list would make big gains and possibly grab the balance of power in the Netherlands in a general election on May 15.

Yet Fortuyn, a shaven-headed avowedly gay former sociology lecturer who angrily rejected any comparison with Le Pen, was a virtual unknown just three months ago.

He catapulted to prominence when his "Liveable Rotterdam" list won the balance of power in municipal elections in the biggest Dutch city in March.

It was one of a series of breakthroughs by right-wing populists across Europe surfing on public anger over immigration, crime and a perceived loss of national identity.

In different forms, the trend had struck in the last two years in Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, France and to a lesser extent in Germany and Portugal.

But while the far-right has been ostracised by mainstream parties in France, Germany and Belgium, it has won a junior role in government in Austria and Italy, stirring controversy with anti-immigrant and anti-European comments but unable in practice to implement its programme.

As in most countries, Fortuyn`s party was largely dependent on a single, charismatic leader.

In an interview with Reuters Television last week, he said politically correct left-wing leaders had fuelled the rise of the far-right by preventing discussion of immigration problems.

"Everywhere in Europe, socialists and the extreme left have forbidden the discussion of the problems of the multicultural society. To identify the problem is to solve it," said Fortuyn, advocating closing Dutch borders to immigrants and especially Muslims.

It remains to be seen whether his death will draw a sympathy vote for a "martyr" next week, or deprive a fledgling grouping of political nobodies of its sole attraction.

Fortuyn railed against what he branded "no-go areas" populated by immigrants in his port city and declared that Islam was a backward culture compared to the West.

His killing came as a profound shock to the Dutch, who have no history of political violence in their parliamentary democracy, and sent shock waves across Europe.

Unlike politicians in many European countries, Fortuyn did not have a bodyguard.

"In God`s name let`s keep our calm," outgoing Prime Minister Wim Kok said in a live statement to the nation, his voice cracking as he shook his head in disbelief at the thought that such a thing had happened in "our peace-loving Netherlands".

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said: "Whatever feelings political figures arouse, the ballot box is the place to express them."

Foreign Minister Louis Michel of neighbouring Belgium, which is wrestling with a home-grown rightist anti-immigrant movement, the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Blok, linked Fortuyn`s killing to Le Pen`s shock score in the French elections.

"The atmosphere was already very delicate," Michel told VRT television. "This on top is, of course, very dangerous."

Vlaams Blok leader Filip Dewinter was quick to blame the media for creating a climate of hysteria about the far-right that he said could have led to the killing.

"What happened may be due to the fact that Fortuyn won after the first local elections, and then after Le Pen, there was media hype against everything right-wing or nationalist," he told Reuters.

"I`m not really surprised by what happened. I know the climate in Holland. Only one-and-a-half years ago the same thing almost happened to me," Dewinter said.

After appearing on a Dutch television show, Dewinter said he was attacked by left-wing protesters: "They smashed my car and really tried to lynch me."