Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders has quit his liberal party, in a dispute over the admission of Turkey to the European Union: Outspoken right-wing MP quits VVD, goes it alone. (Hat tip: Norwegian kafir.)

AMSTERDAM — MP Geert Wilders has quit the Liberal VVD party in a dispute over his outspoken right-wing views. He will remain in the Dutch Parliament as a one-man party.

Wilders announced his decision on Thursday night after talks with VVD parliamentary leader Jozias van Aartsen, Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm and party chairman Jan van Zanen in The Hague.

Liberal MPs had been concerned for some time that Wilders’ statements have been too right-wing.

Wilders and his Somali-born party colleague Ayaan Hirsi Ali have led the criticism of Muslims in the Netherlands for failing to integrate and adhere to western values. They have both attacked the wearing of the veil.

Wilders has not spared his own party either. His statement referring to the VVD as a home for the elderly also hit the wrong mark among his colleagues.

The main sticking point was eventually the expansion of the European Union. “I was and remain opposed to the entry of Turkey to the EU and cannot accept a compromise on that,” Wilders told news agency ANP.