Holland's prime minister said he had won broad EU solidarity from the bloc's leaders in case the expected release of an anti-Koran film by a maverick Dutch politician leads to violence.

The Dutch politician, Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders, has said he plans to air the film this month.

Dutch and other European officials fear the film could spark violent protests in Muslim countries similar to those held two years ago after the publication in the Danish press of cartoons deemed offensive by Muslims.

Holland has been warned by Islamic figures and countries, including Iran, that releasing the film would lead to violence there.

Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the other EU countries supported the view that it cannot silence Mr Wilders due to the constitutional right to freedom of expression.

"I said that even if we fundamentally disagree with the vision (of Wilders), that can never justify taking violent actions," Mr Balkenende said, adding he sensed "a broad agreement to act together" in staving off violent actions.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Dutch could expect full backing by fellow EU member states.

Chalk that down as yet one more reason why the EU is a confederacy of dunces.

Freedom can only be defeated by fear.

I think that's the slogan on GWB's desk plaque, isn't it?

It's absolutely disrespectful, unclassy, and provoking.

But hey, so is South Park.

I do think that on quite a few occasions, south park takes things too far but most times, a lot of what south park does ends up sending a message across that doesn't feel unneeded. i even remember the whole picture of the prophet episode that south park did that may be offensive but clearly not uncassy or tasteless at all.

I know... my point was that we should protect free speech, even speech that is "disrespectful, unclassy, and provoking." Maybe even especially speech that is disrespectful, unclassy, and provoking.

^ Hopefully people will take into account that the documentary is representing the viewpoints of a seemingly bigoted, fringe party and not the EU.

He's not some nobody though, he's a well known politician who got elected to the Dutch parliament as the leader of the fifth largest party. A party that holds nine seats. That obviously means that there are a number of people who agree with him.

Muslim dislike has also been rising considerably in Europe as of late. Some of the European countries have had vast amounts of immigrants and political refugees from the Middle-East and for some reason the majority of them haven't adapted to the societies of their new countries very well. If you go to Paris or Amsterdam for example, in the last decade or so there have risen up ghettos of muslims who collect welfare benefits, don't speak the country's language and are pretty much totally isolated from society at large. This is in stark contrast to the muslim immigration to North-America which has been much, much more smooth. In many countries in Europe, nationalistic parties have been gaining a lot of ground due to this new development.

I'm sure that in the coming years we'll see more and more confrontations between muslims in Europe and the native populace. The 2005 and 2007 riots in France weren't just some isolated incident.

I do think that on quite a few occasions, south park takes things too far but most times, a lot of what south park does ends up sending a message across that doesn't feel unneeded. i even remember the whole picture of the prophet episode that south park did that may be offensive but clearly not uncassy or tasteless at all.

He's not some nobody though, he's a well known politician who got elected to the Dutch parliament as the leader of the fifth largest party. A party that holds nine seats. That obviously means that there are a number of people who agree with him.

The film has been released. If anyone wants to see it, here it is:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8312745410

I think that's the slogan on GWB's desk plaque, isn't it?