Student association GNSV gets Utrecht-based branch

The Great Netherlands Student Association (Dutch acronym: GNSV) describes itself as a right-wing student association aimed at students with a "conservative and patriotic outlook on life". It organises both social and political activities including cantuses, get-togethers and debates. GNSV, which already has branches in Leiden and Nijmegen, will now have an arm in Utrecht as well. They will arrive at the Utrecht student scene in 2025-2026.

"GNSV is a place where students can talk to like-minded people and in so doing they develop and express their opinions," says Frank van Breukelen, the incoming president of the Utrecht branch, and Bram van de Kerk, the incoming vice president. Van Breukelen and Van de Kerk are already affiliated with GNSV as board members of the Nijmegen branch, but they will resign soon.

Controversial
GNSV is a controversial student association. The media outlets Omroep Gelderland and De Volkskrant have both shown that the association is linked with extreme right-wing groups. Its members are also affiliated with Geuzenbond, a far-right youth movement currently being monitored by the police and security services.

Several GNSV members can be seen in pictures published by Geuzenbond. In one of the pictures, members are wearing GNSV ribbons. The Leiden branch has the colours red, white and green; while Nijmegen wears black, gold and green. In addition, GNSV organised a congress together with Geuzenbond and the Flemish student association NSV. Van de Kerk says he used to be a Geuzenbond member, while Van Breukelen says he has never been part of that group.

Van Breukelen and Van de Kerk are not newcomers to the UU political scene. This academic year, they have served on the faculty council of Law, Economics & Governance, representing the new far-right student party VSP. Van Breukelen is also a member of the far-right party Forum for Democracy.