Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Queen Beatrix and MPs are among the many Dutch to express their sympathy for the victims of Friday’s twin attacks in Norway and their relatives.  A bombing in Oslo and a subsequent shooting spree on a nearby island left over 90 dead and scores injured.

There are no indications of any Dutch victims, the Dutch foreign ministry informs. Some 2,500 Dutch are thought to live in the capital Oslo, and between 8,000 and 10,000 in all of Norway, according to the foreign ministry. It is not clear how many Dutch tourists are currently in the country.

The attacks are a purely Norwegian affair, the National Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism says, and therefore don’t warrant any additional security measures. As a precaution, the Norwegian embassy and consulates are under close surveillance.

Norwegians wishing to share their grief are invited to attend the Norwegian Church in Rotterdam, which will commemorate the attacks during Sunday’s service.

All political parties in the Netherlands expressed shock at the twin attacks. Prior to the tragedy, the suspect is thought to have expressed, on the internet, sympathy for Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party, which he described as “the only real party for conservatives”. In a reaction, MP Wilders said “the attacker is a violent, sick psychopath”, adding that the Freedom Party “abhors everything the man stands for and what he has done.”

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide