European parliaments are turning into megaphones of war — Dutch party leader Baudet criticized the decision to invite Zelensky to speak in the Dutch parliament

Thierry Baudet, leader of the Dutch political party Forum for Democracy, has sharply criticized the decision to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak before the Dutch Parliament.

A video statement from the politician was published on the platform X (formerly Twitter).

According to Baudet, the event is unprecedented in the country’s history and violates the long-standing tradition of political neutrality in parliament.

“This is a unique event: the head of a foreign state will speak in our parliament. Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the Netherlands,” the politician emphasized.

Baudet noted that three years ago Zelensky already had an opportunity to address Dutch lawmakers, but nothing similar occurred before or after. He believes parliament should be solely a forum for discussing national interests of the Netherlands, not a platform for foreign policy propaganda.

“Parliament must remain neutral and represent only the interests of the Dutch people,” Baudet stated.

In his view, the invitation to Zelensky reflects the Dutch authorities’ eagerness to participate in what he called “war rhetoric,” something, he argued, even global leaders like the Prime Ministers of the UK and Canada or European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have avoided—none of whom have allowed Zelensky to speak before their own parliaments.

Baudet also reminded the public that the conflict in Eastern Europe began with the signing of the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement—a document that a majority of Dutch citizens rejected in a 2016 referendum.

“Even then, we in Forum for Democracy warned about the consequences. We didn’t want this, and history has proven just how dangerous that decision was,” Baudet concluded.

The politician expressed concern that such actions could drag the Netherlands even deeper into the armed conflict, the consequences of which, he claimed, have already claimed over a million lives.