Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders unveils a 10-point plan to slash migration in the Netherlands
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders announced a 10-point plan Monday that aims to radically slash migration, including using the army to guard land borders and turning away all asylum-seekers.
The proposals put further strain on the fractious four-party ruling coalition that was cobbled together after Wilders' Party for Freedom swept to victory in a 2023 Dutch election on a platform pledging to slash migration.
'The gloves are off,' Wilders said. He added that if migration policy is not toughened up, his party 'is out of the Cabinet.'
Wilders has built his political career on calling for hard-line policies against Islam and migration in the Netherlands. Long in opposition, his party now has power and he said his patience has run out after months of talks and little action from the coalition to crack down on migration.
He said he wants to temporarily halt family reunions for asylum-seekers who have been granted refugee status, and to return to their home country Syrians who have applied for asylum or are in the Netherlands on temporary visas, arguing that much of Syria is now safe. Migrants who are convicted of violent or sexual crimes should be deported, he added, calling it a 'one strike you're out' policy.
Wilders said some of the measures already have been adopted by other European nations, including neighboring Germany. Others will require the Netherlands stepping out of European conventions, he said.
Earlier this month, Germany's new interior minister announced plans to station more police at the border to curb illegal migration and even turn away some of the asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe's biggest economy.
Ministers in the Dutch coalition would have to reach agreement on the proposals before sending them to parliament for approval. That could mean renegotiating the government policy agreement that paved the way for the creation of the government made up of Wilders' Party for Freedom, the right-wing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, the reformist New Social Contract and populist Farmers Citizens Movement.
Wilders said his patience was exhausted at the lack of concrete action since the coalition agreed measures in October including including a re-introduction of border checks, a move to restrict family members who can join a person who has been granted asylum in the Netherlands and cutting the length of temporary visas.
He said measures agreed earlier by the coalition 'are not enough to turn the tide.'
___
Follow AP's coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Germany has evidence of Russia's plans to attack NATO, says Germany's spy chief
Bruno Kahl, President of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND), has said that Russia is preparing to test the credibility of NATO's Article 5, adding that German intelligence has concrete evidence of the Kremlin's preparations for potential aggression against the Alliance. Source: Kahl in a podcast for German outlet Table Briefings, as reported by The Times Details: The BND chief emphasised that Moscow no longer believes in the reliability of NATO's collective defence system – particularly Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which guarantees a joint response in the event of an attack on a member state. He warned that the Kremlin may attempt to test this provision in practice. Quote: "We are very sure, and we have intelligence evidence to back this up, that [Russia's full-scale invasion of] Ukraine is only one step on Russia's path towards the west." More details: Kahl clarified that this "doesn't mean that we expect large tank battalions to roll from the east to the west". German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has issued similar warnings in the past, repeatedly stating that Germany must be "ready for war" by the end of this decade. "Our experts estimate that it could be possible within a period of five to eight years," Pistorius said in an interview with German TV news service Tagesspiegel last year. In its February report, Denmark's military intelligence concluded that after the war in Ukraine ends, Russia could redeploy substantial forces to the borders of other European countries within six months. Kahl also warned that Russia seeks to "push NATO back to its 1990s boundaries", "kick out" the US from Europe and "expand its influence by any means necessary". "We need to nip this in the bud," Kahl stressed. Meanwhile, he noted that despite certain tensions, cooperation with the United States remains stable. "The Americans take Article 5 very seriously, but they rightly insist Europe must do its part," he said. Sinan Selen, Deputy Director General of Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), stated that Russia is increasingly using cyberattacks and sabotage against Western countries. "We have noticed that Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has led to our cyber and espionage defences being increasingly tested," Selen said. An annual report by the BfV reveals that Russia has begun actively deploying so-called "low-level agents" to carry out sabotage operations, particularly placing incendiary devices in parcels, resulting in a series of fires at logistics centres across Europe. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Axios
37 minutes ago
- Axios
U.S. races to break China's hold on rare earth magnets
While U.S. trade negotiators work to ease an immediate shortage of rare earth magnets from China, the Trump administration is scrambling to line up viable alternatives that would reduce America's reliance on its chief economic rival. Why it matters: Small-but-powerful rare earth magnets are essential to high-tech products, from cars and robots to electronics and weapons. But China controls 90% of the world's supply of the critical components. The contentious trade relationship between the U.S. and China has amplified the economic and security risks of that reliance. Global automakers are "in full panic" that China's limits on rare earth exports will trigger supply chain shocks like the pandemic-related semiconductor shortages that occurred in 2021 and 2022. The big picture: It's not a new problem. U.S. officials have been talking about the need to mitigate American dependence on China for years. China also dominates processing of metals like lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite used in batteries. The latest: U.S. and Chinese officials met Monday and Tuesday in London to try to iron out their trade issues, amid reports that China was willing to expedite export licenses for U.S. and European automakers if the U.S. loosened export controls on jet engine parts and software. Late Tuesday both sides said they'd reached a framework of a deal, pending approval from both countries' leaders, that would in theory resolve the most recent export issues. Yes, but: There's still an urgency to find alternative sources. President Trump in April called for an investigation into national security risks posed by U.S. reliance on imported processed critical minerals, including rare earth elements. He has also used a series of executive orders to try to bolster domestic supply chains, like fast-tracking environmental reviews for U.S. mining projects. In Congress, meanwhile, rare earth competition with China has galvanized both parties. A spate of bills would create a tax credit for production of high-performance rare earth magnets, use Defense Production Act authority to direct emergency funding, and establish an Energy Department program to finance minerals projects. Two Republicans and two Democrats are pressing legislation that allows the president to strike free trade agreements exclusively focused on critical minerals and rare earth elements. "There is fairly broad bipartisan support around becoming more resilient, especially in areas that invoke national security — and this is clearly one of them," Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican leading that bill, told Axios last month. Zoom in: One deal that's getting a lot of attention is a potential partnership between California-based MP Materials and Saudi Arabia's flagship mining company, Maaden. The deal was inked in May on the sidelines of the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, coinciding with a broader agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to cooperate on energy and critical minerals. MP Materials operates California's Mountain Pass, the only rare-earths mine in the U.S., which produces 12% of the global supply. At maximum production, Mountain Pass could yield enough rare earths to supply more than 6 million electric vehicles, the company says. But the bottleneck is magnets, which MP Materials is just beginning to produce. Maaden, a fast-growing, government-controlled mining company, is developing mines for a variety of critical minerals, but doesn't produce rare earths today. What to watch: Together, the companies seek to jointly develop a vertically integrated rare earths supply chain in Saudi Arabia—mining, separation, refining and magnet production—for global consumption. Zoning and environmental regulations in the U.S. make it hard to open a rare earth mine, but Saudi Arabia moves more quickly and is anxious to wean its economy off of oil. Saudi expertise in petrochemical refining can be leveraged for minerals processing, while MP brings experience across the entire rare earths supply chain, including mining, refining and magnet production. Reality check: The preliminary deal is non-binding, so it could still fall apart.
New York Post
38 minutes ago
- New York Post
US, China reach deal to ease export curbs, keep tariff truce alive
US and Chinese officials said on Tuesday they had agreed on a framework to get their trade truce back on track and remove China's export restrictions on rare earths while offering little sign of a durable resolution to longstanding trade tensions. At the end of two days of intense negotiations in London, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters the framework deal puts 'meat on the bones' of an agreement reached last month in Geneva to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs that had reached crushing triple-digit levels. But the Geneva deal had faltered over China's continued curbs on critical minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls of its own preventing shipments of semiconductor design software, aircraft and other goods to China. 5 Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, right, shakes hands with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before their meeting to discuss China-US trade, in London, Monday, June 9, 2025. AP Lutnick said the agreement reached in London would remove restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and magnets and some of the recent US export restrictions 'in a balanced way', but did not provide details after the talks concluded around midnight London time. 'We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents,' Lutnick said, adding that both sides will now return to present the framework to their respective presidents for approvals. 'And if that is approved, we will then implement the framework,' he said. In a separate briefing, China's Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang also said a trade framework had been reached in principle that would be taken back to US and Chinese leaders. US President Donald Trump's shifting tariff policies have roiled global markets, sparked congestion and confusion in major ports, and cost companies tens of billions of dollars in lost sales and higher costs. The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its global growth forecast for 2025 by four-tenths of a percentage point to 2.3%, saying higher tariffs and heightened uncertainty posed a 'significant headwind' for nearly all economies. 5 Trucks loaded with containers move through a container terminal port in Shanghai, China, Monday, June 9, 2025. AP The deal may keep the Geneva agreement from unravelling over duelling export controls, but does little to resolve deep differences over Trump's unilateral tariffs and longstanding US complaints about China's state-led, export-driven economic model. The two sides left Geneva with fundamentally different views of the terms of that agreement and needed to be more specific on required actions, said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center in Washington. 'They are back to square one but that's much better than square zero,' Lipsky added. The two sides have until August 10 to negotiate a more comprehensive agreement to ease trade tensions, or tariff rates will snap back from about 30% to 145% on the US side and from 10% to 125% on the Chinese side. 5 President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025. REUTERS MARKETS CAUTIOUS Global stocks have recovered their hefty losses after Trump's April 'Liberation Day' tariff announcement and are now near record highs. Investors burned by earlier turmoil offered a cautious response to the deal and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.57%. 'The devil will be in the details, but the lack of reaction suggests this outcome was fully expected,' said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone in Melbourne. 'The details matter, especially around the degree of rare earths bound for the US, and the subsequent freedom for US-produced chips to head east, but for now as long as the headlines of talks between the two parties remain constructive, risk assets should remain supported.' Signs of the curbs loosening surfaced in China, as several Shenzhen-listed rare earth magnet firms, including Innuovo Technology and Beijing Zhong Ke San Huan said they have obtained export licenses from Chinese authorities. 5 Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng leaves Lancaster House, on the second day scheduled for trade talks between the US and China, in London, Britain, on June 10, 2025. REUTERS China holds a near-monopoly on rare earth magnets, a crucial component in electric vehicle motors, and its decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets upended global supply chains. In May, the US responded by halting shipments of semiconductor design software and chemicals and aviation equipment, revoking export licences that had been previously issued. CHINA EXPORTS PLUNGED A resolution to the trade war may require policy adjustments from all countries to treat financial imbalances or otherwise greatly risk mutual economic damage, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on a rare visit to Beijing on Wednesday. Customs data published on Monday showed that China's overall exports to the US plunged 34.5% in May, the sharpest drop since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. 5 US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick answers questions from the media as he returns to Lancaster House, on the second day scheduled for trade talks between the US and China, in London, Britain, on June 10, 2025. REUTERS While the impact on US inflation and its jobs market has so far been muted, tariffs have hammered US business and household confidence and the dollar remains under pressure. Beijing-based lawyer Peter Wu, 28, saw the talks as 'a good signal' even if details were not fully negotiated. 'I feel that fighting a trade war in the context of global integration is a lose-lose situation for both sides. I naturally hope that my motherland will be better,' he said. China, Mexico, the European Union, Japan, Canada and many airlines and aerospace companies worldwide urged the Trump administration not to impose new national security tariffs on imported commercial planes and parts, according to documents released Tuesday. Just after the framework deal was announced, a US appeals court allowed Trump's most sweeping tariffs to stay in effect while it reviews a lower court decision blocking them on grounds that they exceeded Trump's legal authority by imposing them. The decision keeps alive a key pressure point on China, Trump's currently suspended 34% 'reciprocal' duties that had prompted swift tariff escalation.
