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The Netherlands has a tradition of populist leaders, as the Pim Fortuyn, the former far-right leader who was killed in 2002. Was he who created Leefbar Netherlands, Leefbar Rotterdam's mother party, whose politician does not deny at all that they do not want the Albania becomes part of the EU.
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| Michel Van Elck |
Albanians criminals?! Ambassador Bosch: It is unarguable!
The situation is completely different in the city of Rotterdam from the panorama that these extremist MPs show up. Very few people know the Albanians, who make up less than 0.0001% of the population of approximately 17 million people of the Netherlands, and nearly 20% of them are of non-Dutch origin.
But seems that of what has increased even more the negative image of the Albanians is the Dutch media. On April 16, just on the day of voting in the Dutch House of Representatives for the Visa Restitution, one of the largest newspapers in the country, NRC, published a long article titled "Invisible Albanians Climb to Cocaine Trade", according to which the Albanians have raised a drug empire in the Netherlands.
"A bad thing happened on Tuesday morning, exactly when the vote would take place. The main newspaper in the Netherlands published a very negative article against Albania. It was an interview with a prosecutor in Amsterdam who, in my opinion, was talking stupidly. But that's nothing. But they gave an answer to themselves, saying of how bad people the Albanians are. They said Albanians are very violent people. Then they continued with five points to prove what they would say, but it is not true. They said that a school book of 1905 described Albanians as very violent mountain people. They said that Albania ranks first in domestic violence, which is not true. They said Albania has the highest number of murders. That is not true. And you can continue with a long list of things that are not true," said Robert Bosch, the former OSCE Ambassador in Tirana.
Bosch: The Dutch media have blackened Albania without facts
The former OSCE Ambassador to Tirana Robert Bosch was among those Dutch people who was astonished at the approval of the motion of visa regime restoration.
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| Robert Bosch |
For the article published in the NRC, he had an enormous influence on anti-Albanian propaganda, as some other newspapers have done in the country.
"If you are a normal MP in the Netherlands, you may be scared. They trust the newspaper because they do not want to be seen as weak against crime. So people who were not so convinced to vote, they voted anyway. But other newspapers, especially the Telegraph, have done a lot of propaganda against the Albanians long ago," said the former OSCE ambassador to Tirana Robert Bosch.
Vugt, a chronicler journalist for more than 20 years, thinks Albanians who have been active in the prostitution sector for several years have already increased their impact on cocaine traffic but can not be considered as the largest group of criminals.
"The Albanian groups are not big enough, but are growing in Amsterdam. This is the risk. Most of the cocaine traffic is in the hands of Moroccan groups who have their grandparents from Morocco. They have the greatest control now and create the biggest problems. Because of the murders, they kill each other...The idea is the Albanians see this as a good opportunity. Because the other groups are in high tension with the police because of the murders. I think they are one of the main factors but not the first," said Paul Vugt.
Despite all the media labels when it comes to official statistics from the Central Bureau of Statistics in the Netherlands, the number of Albanians detained by the police is much lower compared to other nationalities.
The Albanians do not even enter in the top 10 nation with the highest number of arrests. And if you notice, Germans who are considered as a country with strong institutions have a greater number of crimes in the Netherlands.
"Dutch statistics show that the crime of Albanians compose only 0.2%. Even less than 0.2%. So it's nothing important. And there are not only just the serious crimes, but all, even the small crimes. Of these 0.2%, serious crimes should be even less. Of course this is a problem, but a very small problem. If you see the first nationalities in the list, the Albanians are not there. How can you say that they are destabilizing the country without anything based on anything," said the former OSCE Ambassador to Tirana Robert Bosch.
In the 1990s, the biggest news in the Dutch media focused on the powerful criminal groups from the former Yugoslav states, which were considered the most cruel.
The researcher Nevenka Tromp was asked by Dutch authorities to write a book for the police academy that would help manage the situation created at that time.
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| Nevenka Tromp |
"If you want to get a paid killer, he will be a Jugo, as they called. ... One of the similarities I see with the opening of borders with Albania is that many people want to leave the country. And among them is a number of professional criminals. Is interesting of what is happening now in the political debate within the Dutch Parliament, is that much attention is being paid to organized Albanian crime in the Netherlands. But at the same time, it is always a political tone, in the sense that since we opened the borders with Albania, all these criminals are ciming in our country and making the society insecure. I do not believe it's a serious argument. I believe it is used for political purposes. By the parties that do not want the entry of new members into the EU," said Nevenka Tromp, a researcher and a pedagogue.
While there are many successful Albanians in the Netherlands, for whom nobody speaks
Top Channel traveled also to Laiden, the Southern city of the Netherlands known for its oldest university of the country dating back in 1575. In this city, Polikseni Loman teaches in a high school, and like the entrepreneur Irakli Demiraku are surprised by the negative image that the media in the Netherlands convey.
"The image is very negative, we Albanians are thieves, we deal with drugs, based on what the media reflects, the description of Albanians is a terrific description. That is, we are 100 times worse than the Moroccans, while the latter are the people who has caused the most of the problems. We kill, kill, without feeling. That's what the media is saying here in the Netherlands," said Polikseni Loman - Teacher.
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| Polikseni Loman |
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| Irakli Demiraku |
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| Agron Seitaj |
"Are not the Albanians the problem in Holland. Albanians always emigrate for a better economy," said Ilir Shahaj, a chef.