Geert Wilders' asylum protest triggers collapse of Dutch government

Times

2 days ago

The clash between European Union law and populist demands to stop asylum seekers caused the collapse of the Dutch government on Tuesday, triggering early elections.
To the shock of even his own ministers, Geert Wilders withdrew his hard-right Party for Freedom (PVV) from the cabinet less than a year after the government was formed, making it one of the most short-lived in the country's history.
An ultimatum from the veteran hard-right leader to curb asylum claims and to deport refugees with a criminal record had split the coalition and threatened to put the Netherlands at odds with the EU, illustrating wider European tensions as national governments try to toughen border controls.
Emergency talks lasted only ten minutes and failed to resolve the situation. 'No signature for our asylum plans. PVV leaves the coalition,' Wilders, 61, announced on the social media platform X on Tuesday morning.
A few hours later, Dick Schoof, the prime minister, a technocrat and former senior civil servant who led the uneasy alliance of mainstream conservatives and populists, handed his resignation to King Willem-Alexander. Elections are expected this autumn.
'As far as I'm concerned, this wasn't necessary,' Schoof said. 'This country has major problems, so decisiveness is required. We have worked hard on the implementation in recent months. But if one party lacks the will, you cannot continue together.'
The PVV was the election winner in November 2023 and dominated the coalition. However, support for Wilders was sliding in the opinion polls as the government struggled to enact migration measures that, lawyers warned, would breach EU asylum law.
Wilders has repeatedly expressed his anger over the past four months that the coalition, while pledging the 'toughest ever' policy on migration, had failed to deliver. He demanded on Monday that the Netherlands suspend all asylum claims because most of the claimants come from the safe neighbouring countries of Belgium and Germany.
He has previously summarised his policy as: 'Close the borders for asylum seekers and family reunifications. No more asylum centres opened. Close them.'
His demands have widespread popular support, especially among followers of the coalition parties, and Wilders is gambling that new Dutch elections would give his party, which still leads in the opinion polls, a bigger share of the vote.
But he was accused of 'betrayal' by former coalition allies and populists who fear that elections might trigger a swing back towards the centrist, pro-European left. 'I promised the voters the strictest asylum policy ever. But that was blocked,' Wilders said. 'I could do nothing but withdraw support for this cabinet.'
Ingrid Coenradie, the PVV security minister, said she was 'certainly not with' Wilders after his 'reprehensible' decision. 'I always had the hope that we could have finished a whole term. That is not possible now because Wilders has decided to pull the plug,' she said.
Caroline van der Plas, the leader of the populist, rural BBB party in the coalition, was also furious, accusing Wilders of a reckless 'power play'.
After a brief meeting on Tuesday morning, Dilan Yesilgoz, leader of the mainstream conservative VVD, stormed out of Wilders' office. 'He is choosing his own ego and his own interests,' she said. 'I am astonished. He is throwing away the chance of a right-wing policy. This is super-irresponsible.'
Schoof, 68, the country's former spy chief who was drafted in as independent prime minister from outside parliament, will stay on as caretaker prime minister alongside ministers from the mainstream, conservative VVD and NSC parties, along with the BBB. 'We can do everything to take the decisions that are necessary,' Schoof said.
The political crisis comes as other European countries, such as Germany and Italy, have been hindered by EU asylum policies or human rights law when attempting to limit net migration.
In total, 44,055 asylum seekers and their following relatives entered the Netherlands last year, followed by 11,000 in the first four months of this year. Although the figures are far lower than the peaks recorded in 2015 at the height of the Syrian civil war, and more recently in autumn 2023, polling at the weekend showed that 76 per cent of coalition voters, a majority nationally, backed Wilders' demands for migrants or asylum seekers to be expelled if they were convicted of a serious crime.
Eighteen months after his shock election win, Wilders's PVV is also leading polls of party support on 31 per cent. But a left-wing coalition led by Frans Timmermans, a former EU commissioner, is now just one point behind. 'We want elections as soon as possible,' said Timmermans on Tuesday.
In third place is the VVD, the traditional party of the Dutch government for decades, on 25 per cent, meaning any forthcoming election is likely to be a close battle.
The collapse is a major blow to Dutch prestige only three weeks before the Hague is due to host a summit of Nato