Dutch government in turmoil: What to know

The Hill

2 days ago

The governing coalition in the Netherlands collapsed Tuesday after Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders withdrew his populist Party for Freedom (PVV)'s ministers — escalating an ongoing dispute over the country's immigration and asylum policies.
'I worked hard for 25 years to establish the PVV and make it a major party, so I'm not standing here as someone who had a good day today,' Wilders told Dutch news outlet GeenStijl in a translated interview late Tuesday. 'But it is the best choice because I'm here for the Dutch, and I also hope that the Dutch people understand why I did this.'
The Netherlands will now have a temporary caretaker government, which is expected to be in place when The Hauge hosts the NATO summit in three weeks.
Wilders, 61, has long voiced anti-immigration and particularly anti-Muslim positions.
Muslims make up about 5 percent of the nearly 18 million people in the Netherlands.
The PVV, which has called for banning the Quran and shuttering mosques, won the largest number of seats in the 150-member Dutch Parliament in a November 2023 snap election amid growing concerns about migration.
Wilders, who has called for banning asylum seekers, cited inaction from other parties on tougher immigration policies for the abrupt withdrawal Tuesday.
'We voted for the PVV by 2.5 million people to achieve the strictest asylum policy ever,' he said in the GeenStijl interview. 'These are measures that are desperately needed and that are definitely not in the government's plans.'
Prime Minister Dick Schoof, an independent who has been leading the government for less than a year, called the PVV's withdrawal and ensuing government collapse 'unnecessary and irresponsible' in a statement after Wilders's unexpected announcement.
'For many months the government has worked hard to implement (an agreement), but if one party lacks the will to continue, it isn't possible to keep working together,' Schoof wrote.
But Wilders accused the opposing parties of stalling and highlighted asylum approaches in neighboring countries like Germany that had taken place in the meantime.
'If we had not done this, if we had continued while all our neighboring countries were introducing stricter measures, which would make people come to the Netherlands more … Where would you go as an asylum seeker? You would come to us sooner,' the far-right leader said. 'If we had continued with this then there would hardly have been anything left of the Netherlands.'
He also stressed his message with multiple posts on the social media platform X, highlighting crime and his calls for asylum restrictions.
'We had no choice. I promised the voter the strictest asylum policy ever, but that was not granted to you,' he said in one post translated from Dutch.
The Dutch government will be run under a restricted 'caretaker administration' for several months until elections can be held for a formal overhaul.
Leaders have called for elections to take place as soon as possible, but it's unlikely they will happen before October.
Schoof plans to remain in the caretaker government until the elections, he said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to reporters during Tuesday's press briefing that President Trump plans to attend the NATO summit scheduled later this month in The Hague.
The formation of a caretaker government and restrictions it faces means that the Netherlands won't be able to formally address Trump's calls for other NATO countries to increase their defense spending ahead of the summit. The country currently spends about 2 percent of its GDP on defense — well below the 5 percent Trump has advocated across-the-board.
Wilders has been nicknamed the 'Dutch Trump,' and many supporters of the U.S. president have backed his populist and immigration hardline views.
Meanwhile, Trump has been at odds with European allies over Ukraine's future amid its ongoing war with Russia and the Ukrainian government's eyes on joining NATO.
Trump also has rankled NATO allies with aggressive suggestions about taking over Greenland and pursuing Canada to become the U.S.'s 51st state.