Wilders's exit leaves Dutch government on brink of collapse
Geert Wilders has brought the Dutch government to the brink of collapse after pulling out of the governing coalition because it would not back his plans for tougher migration rules.
The Dutch hard-Right leader withdrew his Party for Freedom (PVV) from the Right-wing alliance, formed eight months after his victory in the November 2023 general election.
The country now faces fresh elections or it must scramble to find a majority to form a new coalition.
Mr Wilders demanded his three coalition partners agree to a new 10-point migration plan, which included using the army to close land borders, the deportation of Syrian asylum seekers and an end to family reunification, without prior consultation.
'Close the borders for asylum-seekers and family reunifications. No more asylum centres opened. Close them,' he told them.
He also demanded a 'one strike you're out' policy that would ensure migrants convicted of violent or sexual crimes were deported.
But after the allies refused to back the plan, the divisive anti-Islam firebrand later wrote on X: 'No signature for our asylum plans ... PVV leaves the coalition.'
Mr Wilders's PVV was the largest party in the coalition alongside the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the Farmers' Citizen Movement (BBB) and the centrist New Social Contract.
The 'Dutch Trump' was frustrated with the slow pace in introducing the 'strictest-ever asylum policy' agreed with his coalition allies, which has been slowed by legal hurdles.
The policy was agreed after months of contentious coalition negotiations that forced Mr Wilders to give up his dream of being prime minister. He agreed to stay out of the cabinet, along with other party leaders, as part of the deal.
Dick Schoof, the former spy chief who has never held elected office, became prime minister instead and made the PVV's Marjolein Faber minister for migration.
The coalition pledged a two-year asylum crisis act to drive down numbers arriving in the Netherlands and demanded an opt-out from EU asylum rules, which put it on a collision course with Brussels.
It planned a maximum reduction in migrant numbers, without giving a hard figure. The agreement included austere reception centres, a hold on processing asylum applications and only temporary asylum being granted.
In the first quarter of this year, 4,500 people applied for asylum in the Netherlands – half the applications in the same period in 2024. But Ms Faber has struggled to implement the plan, parts of which have been deemed illegal or unworkable by experts.
But courts had ordered that funds for overnight asylum shelter continue and budget cuts to asylum aid organisations were reversed.
The other three party leaders refused to sign up to the plan during an hour-long crisis meeting on Monday night and successfully urged Mr Wilders to sleep on his decision.
But on Tuesday morning, after a second meeting lasting less than 15 minutes, Mr Wilders told Mr Schoof he was removing Ms Faber from the government.
'I signed up to the strictest asylum policy, not the downfall of the Netherlands,' he told reporters.
There are slim hopes that Mr Schoof could still smooth things over but sources predict that the government would collapse.
The latest poll, from Peil.nl, gives Mr Wilders a narrow lead of 1 per cent over Groenlinks-PVDA, the biggest Left-wing party and opposition, by 31 per cent to 30 per cent.
Frans Timmermans, the former EU climate chief and leader of Groenlinks-PVDA, called for elections as 'soon as possible'.
Mr Wilders's decision to leave the coalition has angered his former allies.
Caroline Van der Plas, the BBB leader, criticised him for a 'reckless kamikaze action'.
Dilan Yesilgöz, the VVD leader, said: 'The Netherlands needs a mature and responsible leader who will keep us safe. But Wilders is abandoning the Netherlands.'
In the afternoon as the Cabinet met for crisis talks, Ms Yesilgöz, who came third in the 2023 elections despite expectations of victory, echoed calls for an election as 'soon as possible', making a minority government highly unlikely.
The government crisis comes just weeks before the Netherlands is due to host world leaders for a Nato summit on June 24 and 25.
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