Interview with Defence minister Brekelmans at Room for Discussion disrupted

Source: https://www.uva.nl/en/content/Current/2025/02/interview-with-defence-minister-brekelmans-at-room-for-discussion-disrupted.html Parent: https://www.uva.nl/en/current/protests/protests-at-the-uva.html

6 February 2025

A group of activists, including UvA students and staff, made it impossible for Room for Discussion (RfD) to conduct an interview with Defence minister Ruben Brekelmans yesterday. The atmosphere became so threatening and intimidating that the conversation had to be cut short.

Minister Brekelmans had been invited to the UvA by Room for Discussion - the interview programme by and for students. Precautionary measures had been taken, with mandatory registration and access control in place. The interview was intended to focus on international security, with room for critical questions from the audience.

Security guards pushed and hit

However, a group outside the venue disrupted the event by making noise, banging loudly on the windows and attempting to enter the room. The group adopted a threatening stance towards those present, pushing and hitting security personnel. As a result, continuing the conversation became impossible for both the interviewers and the minister.

Executive Board react shocked

The Executive Board is shocked by the events. ‘We take this extremely seriously. Open and free debate within our university is being sabotaged. That the minister, the audience, and our RfD students who organised the event were intimidated is unacceptable,’ said Board president Edith Hooge.

UvA to file a police report

Hooge: ‘This crosses every line. The fact that physical violence was used against our security colleagues is utterly unacceptable. We will be filing a police report. The UvA must be a place where open and free discussion can take place, where we ask critical questions and remain curious about different perspectives. As a university community, we must uphold this principle.’

Open to discussion

RfD interviewer Sean Cotter-Lem commented: ‘We strongly believe in the core principle of protest as part of society,’ but, he went on to say, the demonstrators were mainly there to disrupt rather than engage in dialogue. ‘And that is a real shame, because we are always open to discussion.’

Interview available on YouTube

After the interviewers from Room for Discussion decided to end the conversation, the minister was escorted to another room, where the interview continued behind closed doors. The video is available on YouTube.