Members of the right-wing, nationalist student association GNSV returned to the intro market this afternoon, after filing a report with the police. They were welcomed at the market by anti-fascist protesters.

Daan, the chair of GNSV, did expect that ‘something would happen.’ ‘But violence? No.’ He has a small abrasion on his forehead – the result of the fight he was embroiled in this morning.

A group of six men – according to Daan – came up to the booth of the Groot Nederlandse Studentenvereniging (GNSV) this morning. GNSV is a right-wing, nationalist student association, that has come over from Leiden. According to the chair, after the men started taking GNSV flyers and other belongings, the two groups started fighting, resulting in the injury of two members of the GNSV. Daan: ‘We tried to de-escalate the situation; at most, we tried to defend ourselves and push people away.’

The chair denies the suggestion on social media that GNSV was the aggressor. ‘Why would we fight those guys with the three of us? We didn’t even know who they were.’

Much criticism

GNSV has ties to the Geuzenbond and styles itself as a club of ‘right-wing students who take a critical view of society’ and who are ‘fed up with left-wing curricula in the lecture halls.’ Today was the first time that the association presented itself on the Nijmegen campus. The university faced much criticism over the fact that space was made available to the association.

‘We wanted to make use of today’, Daan continues. ‘We have three Nijmegen board members right now, and there are plenty of people interested in joining. We hope to soon be able to operate as an independent fraternity.’

Chair Daan is visibly anxious and cuts the interview with Vox short when he spots a group of antifascist protestors gathering opposite the GNSV stand. Security arrives on the scene to keep an eye out for trouble.

Protest

One of the protestors starts shouting anti-fascist slogans through a megaphone. ‘Not now; not ever. No more fascism!’ The protestor, who did not want to be named, thinks it’s a shame that the university offered a space to the ‘fascist GNSV.’ ‘We’re no longer students ourselves, but we want to protect the new generation from people like these.’

The protestors, who keep a safe distance from the GNSV members, claim they do not know who was involved in the brawl earlier today. But they don’t seem to pity the injured students either. ‘Their presence at the intro market makes some students feel very unsafe. How do you imagine the queer community feels?’

Translation: Jasper Pesch.