Dutch government faces collapse as Wilders threatens to exit coalition
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Netherlands' 11-month-old coalition government appeared close to collapse Monday after far-right leader Geert Wilders said he would 'sleep on' a decision on whether to pull out of the fragile four-party pact.
Last week, Wilders demanded the government sign on to a 10-point plan that aims to radically slash migration, including using the army to guard land borders and turning away all asylum-seekers. He said that if immigration policy is not toughened up, his party 'is out of the Cabinet.'
The government crisis comes just three weeks before the Netherlands is scheduled to host a summit of NATO leaders in The Hague.
After talks Monday night with the leaders of the three other parties that make up the ruling coalition, Wilders told reporters 'we will meet each other tomorrow, but it doesn't look good.'
Wilders has built his political career on calling for hard-line policies against Islam and migration in the Netherlands. Long in opposition, his party won elections in November 2023 and is the largest in the coalition.
Now he says his patience has run out after months of talks and little action from the coalition to crack down on migration.
After Monday's meeting, Wilders' three coalition partners told him to come up with concrete proposals for changes to the current agreement and expressed frustration at his repeated threats to bring down the government.
'If your goal is to blow things up, just say so,' Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the right-wing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, told reporters after the hour-long meeting.
According to the leader of the populist Farmers Citizens Movement party Caroline van der Plas, 'The Netherlands does not like quitters.'
In February, Wilders also threatened to back out of the coalition if a pair of bills limiting asylum didn't pass, but he ultimately backed down.
Wilders' latest threat comes as conservative Karol Nawrocki was announced the winner of Poland's weekend presidential runoff election .
The outcome suggests that Poland can be expected to take a more populist and nationalist path under its new president, who was backed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
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CNBC
27 minutes ago
- CNBC
Government collapse plunges Netherlands in turmoil ahead of key NATO summit
The collapse of the Dutch government sets a tricky political backdrop for the Netherlands as it prepares to host the NATO summit in just three weeks. Right-wing leader Geert Wilders' exit from government ended the already fragile Dutch coalition after a mere 11 months in power. On Tuesday, Wilders announced that his Party for Freedom (PVV) would leave the government because the three other parties in the coalition had failed to respond to his 10-point plan to implement stricter immigration policy. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof resigned shortly after Wilders' announcement, setting the stage for snap elections. Like other major economies in the European Union, the Netherlands has grown increasingly fragmented as parties struggle to reach consensus over topics such as immigration and housing. Immigration in particular has now led to the collapse of two successive administrations, also bringing about the end of Mark Rutte's coalition government in 2023. "[Wilders] ultimatum highlighted the lack of genuine cooperation between the PVV and its coalition partners, a tension that has plagued the government since its formation," Jess Middleton, senior Europe analyst at Verisk Maplecroft told CNBC by email, adding that political instability is likely to persist. But the upcoming NATO summit and expectations for the Dutch government to boost defense spending played a larger role in prompting Wilders' exit, experts say. NATO wants its 32 members to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defense and security-related infrastructure by 2032 and is set to push for that target when it next meets on June 24-25. No NATO member has so far reached the 5% spending objective suggested by Trump or by the Netherlands' own Rutte, who is now NATO's secretary-general. In the short term, Rutte has proposed members of the alliance increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP, a goal that the Dutch have estimated will cost them an additional 16 billion to 19 billion euros ($18.2 billion to $21.6 billion) a year. That would require "either raising taxes or cutting spending," Jan Patternote, member of the centrist Democrats 66 (D66) party, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Wednesday. "It was pretty obvious that Mr. Wilders wanted to do neither. So he wanted to have none of it, and that's why he probably got out of the coalition before those tough decisions would have to be made." The D66 politician added, "I think Mr. Wilders wants everyone to believe that it was over differences in immigration policies. But, actually, what I think happened here is that Wilders found the kitchen too hot, so he found a way to get out of that kitchen, because the Netherlands was now facing the prospect of having to massively ramp up defense spending." 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After tendering his resignation, Schoof said he and the remaining three coalition parties will continue in a caretaker role, meaning the smaller cabinet will likely only be able to make decisions on policy that is deemed critical. This essentially puts Dutch politics at a standstill at a time of rising geopolitical and trade tensions. Paternotte conceded that a new government will have a lot of work on its plate as the ongoing infighting has led to "massive cuts in education which the business community is very concerned about." "Personally, I think it's actually good news that a government has been brought down yesterday, because this opens up new opportunities to get some, well, very important topics being discussed in with other parties... And that's what's really needed to make sure that the country gets to a position in the European Union which is stronger than we have today," Paternotte said.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
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Netherlands' Schoof seeks parliament support on defense after government collapse
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