13 March 2008

BRUSSELS – Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will explain the Dutch government's standpoint on the upcoming film from Geert Wilders to his European colleagues on the first day of the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Balkenende is hoping for European solidarity in the event that the film Fitna unleashes violent reactions against Dutch people, companies or embassies in the Islamic world.

Wilders' film is not an official agenda item, but Balkenende will broach the matter during the dinner on Thursday evening. Balkenende and other Dutch ministers have been already talking with other European governments for months about the possible consequences of the film.

The Dutch are hoping for more support than Denmark received two years ago after the publication of cartoons of Mohammed in Danish newspapers led to major unrest.

The EU leaders will also be discussing the progress of the Lisbon agenda for modernising the European economy, the French plans for a Mediterranean Union, and the European Commission's climate and energy tasks.

The finance ministers of the 27 EU members will also have a separate meeting on the unrest on the financial markets and the position of foreign state funds. The foreign ministers will discuss the EU police mission in Afghanistan.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2008]