Ambassador Pete Hoekstra: ‘A border wall will not solve all of our problems’
On Thursday, the American ambassador Pete Hoekstra visited the UvA where he was interviewed by two students for debate platform Room for Discussion. ‘I don’t think the Netherlands is as progressive as people think it is.’
The central hall at REC-E of the Roeterseilandcampus is busy, all available seating taken while other students stand at the back. About ten security guards and police officers keep a close eye while students wave cardboard signs. The signs are a sign of protest, with slogans such as ‘No Pete Zone’. They refer to a controversial statement Hoekstra made in 2015 where he referred to ‘no-go zones’ in the Netherlands where cars are set on fire and politicians are in danger.
While the conversation for Room for Discussion mainly focused on US foreign policy, the student interviewers also asked Hoekstra his opinion on the Netherlands. What is it like for a conservative Republican to be in such a liberal country? ‘I do not think the Netherlands is as progressive as people think it is’, he replied. ‘All Dutch businessmen look like me: white and male. In the US, we already [had more diversity] in the eighties.’ Let’s agree to disagree, he said. ‘There are certain things in which the Netherlands is more progressive than the US, but by no means on all.’
‘America welcomes immigrants’
Pete Hoekstra was born in Groningen, but moved to Michigan with his family at the age of three. ‘My parents emigrated because this was a tough place in 1956. The Netherlands was fighting a war in Indonesia, and had not yet recovered from the Second World War. My parents moved to America looking for a better future.’ UvA interviewer Santiago Diaz Jaramilla asked whether Hoekstra, who campaigned for president Trump in 2016, has sympathy for the migrants who are now travelling to America. ‘America is—and remains—a country that welcomes immigrants.’ The audience laughed. ‘Yes, even with this government. There is no America with closed borders.’
When Diaz Jaramilla reminds him about the wall Trump wants to build at the US-Mexico border, Hoekstra raises his voice. ‘You must realise that Europe is not very welcoming to immigrants either. Both America and the European Union are struggling with a migration problem. We can’t just point a finger at the United States.[...] The wall will provide security, but if criminals or drug cartels want to enter America illegally, there are many ways to do that. The government is responsible for taking security measures, but the wall is not going to solve all of our problems.’
In his closing words, Hoekstra refers to the video America First, The Netherlands Second by comedy news show Zondag met Lubach. ‘The Dutch say they are happy to be number two when America is number one. I think it’s a good starting point.’
