Gert-Jan Segers

Gert-Jan Segers (1969) has been an MP for the Christian Union since 2012 and party leader since 2015. He was the director of the party’s Scientific Institute between 2008 and 2012. He worked in Cairo as a Christian missionary between 2000 and 2007, and as a policy advisor for his current party's predecessor (1994-1999). He has a master's degree in Western-Islamic Relations and the Middle East from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

On the question of religious tolerance, Segers commented in a 2009 intervew, "If you push Islam out of public life, as in France ... the mosque [becomes] a breeding ground for anti-democratic radicalism". He emphasizes that the French ban on headscarves in the classroom and the ban on the wearing of religious symbols by public officials is counterproductive: "I think it is much more fruitful to keep space for difference, even for views that are at odds with yours. Yes, there are limits to freedom. Female circumcision, no way. But wearing a headscarf in public domain, why not if that's what you want."

He calls for:

• Mandatory two-year work-study programs for all refugee status holders
• Refugee allowances and provision of housing, education and care
• Language and civic education for refugees and developing loyalty to the Netherlands from day one
• 1 billion Euros for relief and development in refugees’ regions of origin
• 2 billion Euros extra for the military
• Europe is crucial for peace and security, but it should go back to its core business: co-operation between member states
• Limiting the power of the European Commission
• Restraint in accepting new EU member states and expansion of competencies of the European institutions.