US ambassador sorry for falsely saying ‘politicians are being burned’ in Netherlands by Muslims

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US Ambassador to The Netherlands, Peter Hoekstra (right) gestures as he speaks during a heated press conference at the US embassy, in The Hague, on Wednesday. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Published: 10:35am, 12 Jan 2018Updated: 10:35am, 12 Jan 2018

The new US ambassador to the Netherlands made mistakes and feels great remorse for falsely saying two years ago that Muslim migrants had “burned” politicians and created “no-go zones” in Holland, a State Department official said on Thursday.

Hoekstra angered Dutch media on Wednesday when he met with reporters for the first time since taking over as ambassador but declined to answer questions asking him to clarify his remarks from two years ago.

Under Secretary of State Steve Goldstein told a briefing on Thursday the State Department “does not agree” with Hoekstra’s 2015 remarks about Muslim migrants in the Netherlands.

Goldstein said Hoekstra would be interviewed by a Dutch media outlet on Friday and was expected to address the issue. He said Hoekstra also was expected to visit various Dutch communities over the weekend, including Muslim communities.

@Nieuwsuur to new US ambassador: "You mentioned [..] that there are no go-zones in the Netherlands and that cars and politicians are set on fire."

Pete Hoekstra: "I didn't say that. That's actually an incorrect statement [..] fake news."

Hmm, let's have a look at the footage pic.twitter.com/vlstN9vhSK

— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) December 21, 2017

He told reporters that Ambassador Pete Hoekstra had apologised for the 2015 remarks in a statement on Twitter in December and also said he regretted telling a Dutch television reporter he never made the comments.