Classifications
The political position and the ideology of the party are hotly debated. In December 2008, the eighth study "Monitor Racism and Extremism", conducted by the Anne Frank Foundation and the University of Leiden, has found that the Party for Freedom can be considered extreme right-wing, although "with ifs and buts". Peter Rodrigues and Jaap van Donselaar, who have academically guided the study, explain this classification with the islamophobia, nationalism, and "sharp aversion to the strange", subsumed as racism, which they have observed within the party.
In January 2010, the report Polarisatie en radicalisering in Nederland (transl. "Polarisation and radicalisation in the Netherlands") by political researchers Moors, Lenke Balogh, Van Donselaar and De Graaff from the Tilburg University research group IVA stated that the PVV was not an extreme right-wing party, but contained some radical right-wing elements. The study claims that the PVV holds xenophobic ideas, but not antisemitic ideas – the PVV describes its culture as Jewish-Christian humanistic. "The PVV statements on Islamisation and non-Western immigrants appear to be discriminatory and the party organisation is authoritarian rather than democratic", said the researchers, who were looking into polarisation and radicalism across the Netherlands. They described the PVV as the "new radical right", a party with a national democratic ideology but without extreme right-wing roots. In particular, the report stated that the party's pro-Israel stance showed that it was not neo-Nazi. It tends however towards a national democratic ideology. Wilders called the report "scandalous"—in particular the link between defending the national interest and the radical right.
An alleged earlier version of the report, leaked to the Dutch daily newspaper de Volkskrant in November 2009, said that Wilders' party is an extreme right-wing grouping and a threat to social cohesion and democracy. The paper claimed at the time the researchers were under pressure to water down the conclusions because of their political sensitivity. The Dutch Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Guusje ter Horst, (2007-2010), Labour (PvdA), who commissioned the research, denied exerting any interference. In response, Wilders accused her of "playing a dirty game".
Some commentrators have argued that the party is far-right; for example, the ex-prime minister Van Agt regards the party as ultra-right-wing, and Bert de Vries (CDA) draws comparisons with the small Centre Party. The political scientist Lucardie, on the other hand, considers it necessary to reserve the 'far-right' qualification for national socialists and fascists.
International scholarly publications have repeatedly referred to the party as far-right. International media outlets and newspapers have followed this classification. On the other hand, it has occasionally been regarded as "centre-right". The party has been regarded by some as anti-Muslim. Wilders however maintains that he is not anti-Muslim, only anti-Islam, summing up his views by stating "I don't hate Muslims, I hate Islam".
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