The assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is a wakeup call to the citizens of Europe. Coming only days after the defeat of rightwing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the runoff for the French presidency last weekend, the killing is a savage reminder of the threats to democracy in Europe. The Dutch government has decided not to bow to intolerance and is going ahead with the general election scheduled for next week. That is the right decision. There is no place for such barbarism in politics. Europe, the birthplace of democracy, must reassert the importance of the peaceful resolution of political disputes.
Mr. Fortuyn was a relative newcomer to Dutch politics. A former academic and media commentator, he stunned the political order in the Netherlands when his party, Pim Fortuyn's List (PFM), won 35 percent of the votes cast in local elections in the city of Rotterdam last year. The PFM was anticipated to challenge the country's mainstream parties in next week's ballot.
The circumstances behind Mr. Fortuyn's murder are not what many would expect. He had provoked the animosity of many in the Netherlands -- not because he was an openly gay politician, but because he was a rightwing populist. Mr. Fortuyn urged cutting the government bureaucracy by 25 percent and upending the arrangement in which the three leading parties had dominated Dutch politics. The suspect arrested in the killing is a Dutch man who worked for Environmental Offensive, an organization that focused on environmental issues.