Dutch warn EU of possible anti-Koran video backlash

By Ingrid Melander

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has warned European leaders of a possible backlash against European interests over a Dutch video which criticises the Koran, diplomats said on Friday.

Right-wing parliamentarian Geert Wilders, who says the Koran is a "fascist" book that incites violence, plans to show the 15-minute film this month despite appeals from the Dutch government.

"Prime Minister Balkenende indicated it might trigger fierce reactions abroad which could possibly hit Dutch interests but also have a spill-over effect on other European countries," a Dutch diplomat said after summit talks late on Thursday night.

"They (the EU leaders) agreed to keep in close contact on this," the diplomat added.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, whose country faced riots and attacks on its embassies after Danish newspapers published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in 2006, said after the meeting that the Netherlands could count on EU solidarity.

Asked what lessons he drew from the cartoon case, Rasmussen told reporters: "It is fruitful to have a firm stance concerning freedom of expression." He said it was up to the Dutch government whether to allow the video to be broadcast.

TROUBLES FOR NATO?

About 15,000 people protested in Afghanistan on Saturday, some burning Dutch and Danish flags in protest at Wilders' film and to condemn the reprinting of the cartoon of Mohammad.