The statement was issued by all 27 EU foreign ministers gathered at Brdo in Slovenia for a two day summit.

"The film equates Islam with violence and this view is sharply rejected," it read.

"The vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and violence."

The film has already been disowned by the Dutch government, and has attracted criticism from the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon.

But the EU ministers were careful to point out that the EU also recognised the importance of freedom of expression.

"Feeling offended is no excuse for aggression or threats," they said.

"Muslims, Christians, and people of all convictions and beliefs must live together in peace and mutual respect."

Responses to the film inside the Netherlands have been surprisingly muted -- a stark contrast to the furore over the Danish cartoons of Mohammed.

The relaxed response may be attributed to statements before the release of Fitna by Mohammed Rabbae, a prominent Dutch-Moroccan leader.

"When the film is released, we should conduct ourselves with dignity," he said.

"If we get angry or even turn to violence, we will be doing exactly what Mr Wilders wants us to do."

Even Wilders was forced to admit on Dutch television that Dutch Muslims had behaved well in the aftermath of the film's release on the Internet.

"Ode to the Muslims in the Netherlands," he conceded.

Meanwhile, Wilders has been attracting comparisons to Osama Bin Laden (OBL), as some commentators have pointed out that Fitna is remarkably similar to Al-Qaeda's own propaganda films.

"Wilders and OBL do exactly the same thing -- they read 10% of the Koran, and use it to ‘prove’ that the Koran can be used to excuse terrorism, and conveniently ignore the other 90% of Islam’s Holy Book," wrote Michael van der Galien on the PoliGazette website.

"It’s a political manifesto -- Wilders wants to convince the viewer that Islam itself poses a threat to the West."

"Sadly for him, however, he can only make that case by ignoring the peaceful verses of Islam, and Islam’s long, peaceful, and intellectual history."

Omar Bakri, the former 'Tottenham Ayatollah' now banned from Britain, found the film so similar to Jihadist propaganda that he couldn't see much to be offended by.

"On the contrary, if we leave out the first images and the sound of the page being torn, it could be a film by the Mujahideen," he said.

To add to Wilders' miseries, businesses in the Netherlands may sue him if they are adversely affected by boycotts as a result of the film.

"A boycott would hurt Dutch exports," said Bernard Wientjes, chairman of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers.

"Businesses such as Shell, Philips, and Unilever are easily identifiable as Dutch companies."

"I don’t know if Wilders is rich, or well-insured, but in case of a boycott, we would look to see if we could make him bear responsibility.”