Netherlands' Schoof seeks parliament support on defense after government collapse

The Star

3 days ago

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Prime Minister Dick Schoof, acting in a caretaker status after his resignation, sought parliamentary support on Wednesday for security and defense matters, a day after far-right leader Geert Wilders abruptly abandoned the coalition government.
While no date was set for a snap election, it will likely be in the autumn based on previous election cycles.
The timing of Wilders' exit - which he blamed on slow government progress in imposing immigration restrictions - is awkward, just three weeks before the Dutch are due to host a NATO summit. There, world leaders will be asked to more than double their defense and security-related spending target from 2% to 5% of GDP.
"The fall of this cabinet, in my view, was unnecessary and irresponsible," Schoof, who resigned hours after Wilders pulled his PVV party out of the coalition, told the 150-seat lower house.
"Nationally and internationally, we face major challenges, and more than ever, decisiveness is required for our security, resilience, and the economy in a rapidly changing world."
Schoof asked legislators to back key policy decisions relating to military support for Ukraine, defense spending, cost of living, housing, migration and tariffs.
Wilders, who reiterated his plans to freeze all immigration, said he aimed to become the next prime minister, even as his party steadily lost popularity while in power.
"I proposed a plan to close the borders to asylum seekers, to stop them, to send them away, to stop building asylum centers and instead to shut them down," Wilders said during a debate convened to address the political crisis.
"I asked my coalition partners to sign off on it, but they didn't," he said, explaining the timing of his exit decision.
Frans Timmermans, a former EU commissioner who leads the left-wing opposition, said he would work with the caretaker government, which no longer includes Wilders' Freedom Party, on matters of security, and accused Wilders of causing political disagreement and paralysis.
"When responsibility must be taken, when difficult decisions need to be made, Mr. Wilders is nowhere to be found," he said.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Bart MeijerEditing by Bernadette Baum)