Latest news with #GeertWilders
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Thursday briefing: How Geert Wilders' exit from Dutch coalition might set up his own comeback
Good morning. The Dutch government dramatically collapsed on Tuesday after far-right politician Geert Wilders pulled out of the coalition, citing his frustration over immigration and asylum policy. Shortly afterwards the prime minister, Dick Schoof, handed in his resignation to King Willem-Alexander. Fresh elections are expected in October. Until then ministers will remain in place in a caretaker capacity. There are a lot of players in this coalition and plenty of initials to keep track of (bear with me). In a political earthquake, Wilders' anti-Islam Freedom party (PVV) emerged as the largest party in parliament in the last election. The other coalition members were the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which came third, the centrist New Social Contract (NSC), which came fourth, and the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), sixth. It took six months of negotiations to piece this coalition government together, and 10 months for it all to come crashing down. Schoof called Wilders' decision 'irresponsible and unnecessary'. The VVD leader, Dilan Yeşilgöz, said she was 'shocked' by the 'super-irresponsible' move. Wilders, for his part, said he would 'fight the coming elections to make the PVV even stronger' with the goal of emerging on the other side as prime minister. In today's newsletter I spoke to Cas Mudde, a Dutch political scientist and leading expert on populism and the radical right who is based at the University of Georgia. That's after the headlines. US news | Donald Trump has signed a sweeping order banning travel from 12 countries and restricting travel from seven others, reviving and expanding the travel bans from his first term. Security concerns and visa overstays, the US president said, justified the move. Fuel poverty | Bereaved families of tens of thousands of dead pensioners could be pursued by tax officials to recoup winter fuel payments under a new system being explored by the Treasury, the Guardian has learned. Israel-Gaza war | The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has detailed the harrowing account of one of its paramedics, Asaad al-Nasasra, 47, who told the organisation he heard Israeli troops shoot first responders. The attack on a convoy of emergency vehicles killed 15 others. UK economy | Keir Starmer has said he hopes a trade deal struck last month with the US can come into effect 'in just a couple of weeks', as the White House has signalled that the UK will be spared the 50% steel and aluminium tariffs that came into force on Wednesday. Global health | A cure for HIV may be closer after researchers discovered a new way to force the virus out of hiding in human cells. This 'overwhelming' breakthrough could help overcome one of the biggest obstacles to a cure: the virus's ability to lie dormant in certain white blood cells. Unstable coalition governments aren't new on the Dutch political scene. The threshold for a party to enter parliament is quite low compared to other European countries. In 2002, a coalition government collapsed in less than 100 days. Still, this latest debacle stands out. Things were rocky for the coalition from the beginning. The two biggest parties, the PVV and NSC, were not especially eager to join the government, as Mudde explains, and neither was the VVD. They eventually reached an agreement that allowed the PVV to be part of the government, but barred Geert Wilders from becoming prime minister or taking a cabinet post. 'From the start this was a very unlikely coalition and they have been fighting about almost everything. That has a lot to do with the fact that Wilders isn't in the government. He's the leader of the biggest party who is very isolated,' Mudde said. It's important to remember that Wilders is the PVV. 'You have all these people in the government from Wilders' party who have no power because the only one who decides is Wilders. He's mostly communicating through Twitter,' Mudde added. The BBB and NSC are both new and inexperienced political parties that were slipping in the polls. The former dominant party, the VVD, was internally divided about joining the coalition and likely to have been searching for an exit strategy. 'Despite this and despite a number of crises, the government survived 2024,' Mudde said. Then came the so-called issues around immigration and asylum. From all accounts, none of the other coalition parties saw it as a crisis – except Wilders. What were Wilders' immigration policies? Wilders had wanted to adopt a 10-point plan to radically reduce immigration and asylum. This included enlisting the army to secure and patrol the borders, turning all asylum seekers back when they reached the Netherlands, closing refugee accommodation facilities, deporting all Syrian refugees, suspending EU asylum quotas, and banning family members joining refugees already in the country. Unsurprisingly, legal experts said several of these proposed policies breached European human rights laws or the UN refugee convention, to which the Netherlands is a signatory. Still, Mudde said the government had tried to bring immigration down through drastic measures. For one, the government wanted to declare a national immigration crisis, which would have granted special powers, but a court struck it down as unconstitutional. 'They have passed many other legislations, but of course it has to be implemented. And that often takes a long time. This is much more about impatience than about not having policies passed,' Mudde said. One of the parties in the coalition was against declaring an immigration crisis. 'But they mostly didn't want to do that because it was clear that it would be struck down by the court. So the difference between the parties has not so much been about what we should do. It is much more about how to do it. It is not as if these other parties have said, no, you are too extreme. They've pretty much given Wilders everything on immigration,' Mudde added. What the government did push for, he said, was bringing immigration down within the legal framework of Dutch liberal democracy. Why did he pull out? Wilders' decision to pull out of the coalition is widely seen as bizarre. Recent polls show the PVV has lost significant voter support since its shock election victory in November 2023. The party is now polling at about 20%, roughly level with the Labour/Green alliance, currently the second-largest bloc in parliament (more on them soon). 'There is no strategic decision here. It is being framed by the other parties as him being unreliable, and this plays into the broader narrative of populists being irrational, like he is some kind of Trump. He is not reckless usually, so this is a very odd decision,' Mudde said. Unlike some other far-right politicians, Mudde added, Wilders is a true believer. 'Wilders has been living for more than 15 years under 24/7 police protection because of the threat of jihadists. And while he denies that this has affected the way he looks at the world, there's no way that this hasn't impacted him.' For Wilders, the fight against immigration, or more bluntly, against Islam and Muslims, is existential. 'It is the only issue for him, it is fundamental. He's not concerned about surviving as leader because he is the party. He believes that the government didn't do what he wanted, so he got out of the government. It's an ideological decision, which strategically doesn't make much sense. That is very rare in politics: to put ideologies over strategy.' What happens next? It is hard to predict who will come out on top in the October election – and much of what is happening now may be forgotten by then. After the collapse, Wilders came out swinging with one clear message to voters: I wasn't allowed to implement the radical changes the country needs. Vote for us because we're too big to ignore. The VVD, under Dilan Yeşilgöz, has responded in a way reminiscent of former prime minister Mark Rutte, Mudde explains: acknowledging that immigration is a major issue but insisting that far-right populists like Wilders are all talk and no delivery. Yeşilgöz hasn't ruled out governing with Wilders again. That risks a repeat of the 2023 election, which was framed around immigration and whether Wilders should be allowed into government, which is a narrative that ultimately benefits him. There is still a chance the VVD could pivot back to traditional issues, such as lowering taxes, he added. If that happens, the Netherlands could end up with a centrist government made up of the VVD, GroenLinks–PvdA, D66, and the Christian Democrats, 'bringing the Netherlands back to where it has been for a long time'. According to Mudde, two key players in setting the political tone are the Dutch media, which has been 'obsessed' with the far right and immigration since the 2002 assassination of Pim Fortuyn, and the VVD itself. 'Politicians create their own realities,' Mudde says. 'And so just as Starmer thinks that if he is going to be Reform-lite, then he's going to win back the white working-class vote, which he never lost actually, the VVD has a similar story: they think that if we campaign as the trustworthy anti-immigrant party, then we will win back the voters who we lost to Wilders.' But if they choose to focus on immigration, the media will follow, and the far right will benefit, he added. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion And what of the centre left? The Social Democrats and the Greens are running on a joint list and are very close to merging, Mudde explains. That's made them more interesting to the media and helped them poll neck-and-neck with the far-right PVV. 'They've got Frans Timmermans, who's a heavyweight. But they haven't been able to truly shift the discourse. He'll likely campaign against the far right — 'Vote for us, or you'll get Wilders' — but that still keeps the focus on Wilders,' Mudde said. 'Whereas if you campaign on housing, education, healthcare, which are major issues in the Netherlands, then you force the VVD to have a position on that. You even force Wilders to have a position on that.' A gorgeous edition of our Long Wave newsletter (sign up here!) this week from Nesrine Malik. She explains how 'African fashion' (for want of a less generalising phrase) went global, from gallabiyas to kaftans. Charlie Lindlar, acting deputy editor, newsletters Children in Slovenia are less likely to experience deprivation than anywhere else in Europe. Guardian writer Zoe Williams explores whether that's due to current policies, or whether the answer lies in the country's socialist past. Aamna Keir Starmer may be in Downing Street, Kemi Badenoch may run the Tories and Nigel Farage may be the figurehead of conservatism – but Rafael Behr reckons one figure looms spookily over our politics and explains its decay: Liz Truss. Charlie The return of Billie Piper to Doctor Who made me smile, as did this roundup by Guardian readers on the series finale. While many welcomed the nostalgia, it's clear the BBC still has work to do to stay relevant. 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The club were determined to bring in a new striker this summer and have moved swiftly to secure one of their top targets. 'Chaos fears over return of winter fuel payments' says the Guardian, while the Times has 'Pensioners face tax hit for winter fuel U-turn' and the Express renders it as 'Farage backs call for full U-turn to help OAPs'. The i paper plays this one with a straight bat: 'Pensioners on disability and housing benefit in line for winter fuel payments'. 'Glee school meals' – the Mirror claims 'campaign victories' on that issue and the winter fuel money. 'Reeves forced to drop net zero cuts' – that's the Telegraph while the chancellor gets a better run in the Metro with 'Reeves unveils major transport plan … £15bn to get Britain moving'. Top story in the Financial Times is 'Trump's 'big beautiful bill' will swell US debt by $2.4tn, warns watchdog'. 'Battle lines drawn over immigration' says the Daily Mail, summarising the platforms of 'Keir' and 'Kemi' side by side below. Is AI about to steal your job? Should we believe the warning that AI is about to upend the jobs market? Chris Stokel-Walker reports A bit of good news to remind you that the world's not all bad From its plot to its performances and picturesque Oregon setting, The Goonies remains a timeless piece of cinema. But as it turns 40, it turns out the film still has its secrets, as Ann Lee finds out in this behind the scenes oral history, in which the cast and crew spill on their on-set antics. 'We were a family. We loved each other and we bickered and drove each other mad,' says Kerri Green, who plays cheerleader Andy. 'It's about friendship. It's an underdog story; that idea that if you do this together, you're going to succeed. It was such a magical thing. I have learned to just look back and appreciate how lucky I was to have been part of that.' Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday And finally, the Guardian's puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Collapse of Dutch government leaves uncertainty on streets of Amsterdam
Ataa Bodin is glad that the Dutch government has fallen. 'It's good,' said the 34-year-old Syrian who lives in the Netherlands. 'I have a passport, the father of my daughter is Dutch but for other people it's difficult. They can't just go back to Syria like counting to three.' On Tuesday, far-right populist Geert Wilders collapsed his first government after failing to break open the coalition agreement to add 10 new policies on asylum – including deporting Syrians with temporary residency within six months, forcibly if necessary. Eleven months into a four-party coalition described by Dutch media as an 'unhappy marriage', Wilders walked out, resigning all of his ministers with immediate effect. His former coalition partners reacted with fury, saying there was no disagreement about reducing asylum and labelling Wilders a political footballer faking a foul. On the streets of south-east Amsterdam – where earlier this week an investigation revealed that children were sleeping in garages and cars because their parents could not find housing – there was a sense of both relief and confusion. Adjoining De Bijlmerhorst school, where one in 20 children have no fixed residence, parents were waiting for their children to exit the As-Souffah Islamic primary. For Ahmed Abubakar, 41, from Somalia and with five children, the fall of the government was confusing. 'I don't know if it's good news,' he said. 'We live in two rooms. I've been on WoningNet [social housing list] for 11 years.' Like most of the country's population, people seemed most concerned about issues such as the need to boost healthcare, build housing and control price-pumping. A snap online poll of 16,117 voters by current affairs programme EenVandaag found 60% were happy that Wilders had exited government. Supporters of leftwing parties were glad to see the end of the hard right coalition but the Freedom party's (PVV) own voters were divided, said pollster Rozemarijn Lubbe. 'Two-thirds of them say it's a good thing that he stepped away: they agree with the points that he wanted, like these 10 asylum points,' she said. 'They feel that he was sabotaged … actively opposed by the European Union, by opposition parties but also by other coalition parties. 'But 29% of PVV voters are not happy: some say Wilders and [his] asylum minister [Marjolein] Faber should have done more.' Trust in politics, which has for some years been at historic lows, slumped from 34% after the government was installed to just 23% on Tuesday. 'And it dropped with these specific rightwing voters,' she said. Experts suggest Wilders was exploiting a story in rightwing paper De Telegraaf in the middle of May suggesting immigration was adding 'a city a year', or 130,000 people, to the national population – although it failed to deduct almost 20,000 people who left in that period. Statistics Netherlands figures show the vast majority of immigration is labour migration rather than asylum – and like much of Europe, the Netherlands saw refugee numbers halve in early 2025. But the PVV wanted to collapse the coalition and was looking for an excuse to exploit its dominant issue, migration, according to Mark Thiessen, campaign strategist at Meute. 'After February the dominant narrative in society and politics completely changed … to geopolitics, security, people feeling insecure, and they're not favouring Wilders,' he said. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion 'For Wilders, [it] was always the best option to do it on immigration, because that is his topic.' Like all populists, Wilders thrives in political upheaval, even when he has caused it, said Léonie de Jonge, professor of research on rightwing extremism at the University of Tübingen in Germany. 'He thrives on chaos, but also on performing crises,' she said. 'And he has been performing this immigration crisis for the past years, and again, now trying to get that at the top of the agenda and of everyone's consciousness.' Political journalist Arjan Noorlander said Wilders – who has lived in 24/7 security for two decades, is sole party member and does not declare his funding sources – could not cope with his surprise win of 37 of 150 seats in November 2023 either. 'We know that Wilders has said: 'I feel like the chairman of an amateur snooker club: we weren't organised to get so many seats or take part in government,'' he said. 'Quite apart from the question of immigration, he just wanted to get out.' Business leaders told the Financieele Dagblad that the country was well rid of a government of 'economic bunglers', although the timing before a Nato summit in The Hague was unfortunate. Some PVV voters in south-east Amsterdam were disappointed with Wilders. 'It doesn't matter who is in government as long as there's good government,' said Mustafa, a Dutch-Turkish flower shop owner who did not wish to give his surname. 'Why is he stopping? I don't understand. Things were going so well for him. It's just a shame he sometimes says the wrong thing.'
Khaleej Times
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Dutch government collapses after right-wing leader Geert Wilders quits coalition
The Dutch government collapsed on Tuesday, most likely ushering in a snap election, after anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders quit the right-wing coalition, accusing other parties of failing to back his tougher immigration policies. But Prime Minister Dick Schoof, an independent, accused the political maverick of irresponsibility, and the other coalition parties denied failing to support Wilders, saying they had been awaiting proposals from his PVV party's own migration minister. PVV ministers will quit the cabinet, leaving the others to continue as a caretaker administration until an election unlikely to be held before October. Frustration with migration and the high cost of living is boosting the far right and widening divisions in Europe, just as it needs unity to deal effectively with a hostile Russia and an unpredictable and combative US president in the form of Donald Trump. "I have told party leaders repeatedly in recent days that the collapse of the cabinet would be unnecessary and irresponsible," Schoof said after an emergency cabinet meeting triggered by Wilders' decision. "We are facing major challenges both nationally and internationally that require decisiveness from us," he added, before handing his resignation to King Willem-Alexander. The prospect of a new election is likely to delay a decision on boosting defence spending and means the Netherlands will have only a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of the transatlantic NATO alliance this month. Election may be months away Wilders said he had had no option but to quit the coalition. "I proposed a plan to close the borders for asylum seekers, to send them away, to shut asylum shelters. I demanded coalition partners sign up to that, which they didn't. That left me no choice but to withdraw my support for this government," he told reporters. "I signed up for the strictest asylum policies, not for the demise of the Netherlands." He said he would lead the PVV into a new election and hoped to be the next prime minister. An election is now likely at the end of October or in November, said political scientist Joep van Lit at Radboud University in Nijmegen. Even then, the fractured political landscape means formation of a new government may take months. It remains to be seen whether right-wing voters will see the turn of events as Wilders' failure to turn his proposals into reality, or rather decide that he needs a bigger mandate to get his way, van Lit said. Simon Otjes, assistant professor in Dutch politics at Leiden University, said the PVV must have calculated that the next election would be seen as a referendum on immigration policy, "because they know they would win that". Amsterdam resident Michelle ten Berge hoped that "with the new election we will choose ... a government that's more moderate". But florist Ron van den Hoogenband, in The Hague, said he expected Wilders to emerge the winner and take control of parliament "so he can do like Trump is doing and other European countries where the extreme right is taking over". Immigration a divisive issue Wilders won the last election in November 2023 with an unexpectedly high 23 per cent of the vote. Opinion polls put his party at around 20 per cent now, roughly on a par with the Labour/Green combination that is currently the second-largest grouping in parliament. Wilders had last week demanded immediate support for a 10-point plan that included closing the borders to asylum seekers, sending back refugees from Syria and shutting down asylum shelters. He also proposed expelling migrants convicted of serious crimes and boosting border controls. Migration has been a divisive issue in Dutch politics for years. The previous government, led by current NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, also collapsed after failing to reach a deal on restricting immigration. Wilders, a provocative politician who was convicted of discrimination against Moroccans in 2016, was not part of the latest government himself. He only managed to strike a coalition deal with three other conservative parties last year after agreeing not to become prime minister. Instead, the cabinet was led by the unelected Schoof, a career civil servant.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Dutch voters welcome collapse of right-wing coalition, according to poll
The first political opinion poll taken after the collapse of the Netherlands ' right-wing coalition government on Tuesday says only 14 per cent of voters believe it achieved anything worthwhile during its 11 months in office. The coalition of Geert Wilders ' Freedom Party, the centre-right VVD, agrarian BBB and progressive New Social Contract collapsed after Mr Wilders made good on a threat to pull out of the coalition unless the other parties backed tougher immigration reforms. King Willem-Alexander cut short a state visit to the Czech Republic to return to The Hague on Tuesday to accept the resignation of prime minister Dick Schoof, who will remain in a caretaker capacity until the outcome of a general election in October. The Schoof government took office last July. The poll by current affairs television programme EenVandaag surveyed 16,117 respondents in the hours immediately after Mr Wilders abandoned the coalition. READ MORE It gave the government – racked by relentless infighting and stung by external criticism from the start – an overall satisfaction rating of 3.6 out of 10. Eighty-three per cent of the responses to the opinion poll were negative, while only 14 per cent were positive. Given its troubled tenure, most voters – 65 per cent – welcome the coalition's demise. Non-Freedom Party voters blame Mr Wilders personally, frequently describing him as 'childish'. By contrast, his own supporters say he was 'obstructed' by the other coalition parties and needs a new mandate to govern as prime minister – a post all the parties' leaders agreed to forego last year. [ Geert Wilders pulls party from Netherlands government Opens in new window ] As a result, only 16 per cent of respondents said they would like to see the same parties work together again. Almost three-quarters – 72 per cent – agree with Labour-GreenLeft leader Frans Timmermans that elections are the only practical way to achieve a newly stable government for the fifth-largest economy in the euro zone. As the inevitability of an autumn election sank in, parliament began a post-collapse debate on Wednesday morning, full of angry recriminations. The mood of MPs wasn't helped by the prospect of a nationwide train strike on Friday that has been overshadowed by the political crisis. Arriving for the debate, Mr Wilders said he would keep up the pressure for tighter immigration. 'Let's start now: close asylum centres, don't let people in, and don't allow family migration.' However, Christian Democrat leader Henri Bontenbal responded that after the 'chaos' of an 11-month 'political experiment' the mood now was for a return to 'stability'. 'Society is longing for normality and for politicians who deliver more – not less – than they promise.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dutch government in turmoil: What to know
The governing coalition in the Netherlands collapsed Tuesday after Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders withdrew his populist Party for Freedom (PVV)'s ministers — escalating an ongoing dispute over the country's immigration and asylum policies. 'I worked hard for 25 years to establish the PVV and make it a major party, so I'm not standing here as someone who had a good day today,' Wilders told Dutch news outlet GeenStijl in a translated interview late Tuesday. 'But it is the best choice, because I'm here for the Dutch, and I also hope that the Dutch people understand why I did this.' The Netherlands will now have a temporary caretaker government, which is expected to be in place when The Hauge hosts the NATO summit in three weeks. Wilders, 61, has long voiced anti-immigration and particularly anti-Muslim positions. Muslims make up about 5 percent of the nearly 18 million people in the Netherlands. The PVV, which has called for banning the Quran and shuttering mosques, won the largest number of seats in the 150-member Dutch Parliament in a November 2023 snap election amid growing concerns about migration. Wilders, who has called for banning asylum-seekers, cited inaction from other parties on tougher immigration policies for the abrupt withdrawal Tuesday. 'We voted for the PVV by 2.5 million people to achieve the strictest asylum policy ever,' he said in the GeenStijl interview. 'These are measures that are desperately needed and that are definitely not in the government's plans.' Prime Minister Dick Schoof, an independent who has been leading the government for less than a year, called the PVV's withdrawal and ensuing government collapse 'unnecessary and irresponsible' in a statement after Wilders's unexpected announcement. 'For many months the government has worked hard to implement (an agreement), but if one party lacks the will to continue, it isn't possible to keep working together,' Schoof wrote. But Wilders accused the opposing parties of stalling and highlighted asylum approaches in neighboring countries such as Germany that had taken place in the meantime. 'If we had not done this, if we had continued while all our neighboring countries were introducing stricter measures, which would make people come to the Netherlands more … where would you go as an asylum-seeker? You would come to us sooner,' the far-right leader said. 'If we had continued with this, then there would hardly have been anything left of the Netherlands.' He also stressed his message with multiple posts on the social platform X, highlighting crime and his calls for asylum restrictions. 'We had no choice. I promised the voter the strictest asylum policy ever, but that was not granted to you,' he said in one post translated from Dutch. The Dutch government will be run under a restricted 'caretaker administration' for several months until elections can be held for a formal overhaul. Leaders have called for elections to take place as soon as possible, but it's unlikely they will happen before October. Schoof plans to remain in the caretaker government until the elections, he said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to reporters during Tuesday's press briefing that President Trump plans to attend the NATO summit scheduled later this month in The Hague. The formation of a caretaker government and restrictions it faces means the Netherlands won't be able to formally address Trump's calls for other NATO countries to increase their defense spending ahead of the summit. The country currently spends about 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense — well below the 5 percent Trump has advocated for across-the-board. Wilders has been nicknamed the 'Dutch Trump,' and many supporters of the U.S. president have backed his populism and hard-line immigration views. Meanwhile, Trump has been at odds with European allies over Ukraine's future amid its ongoing war with Russia and the Ukrainian government's eyes on joining NATO. Trump also has rankled NATO allies with aggressive suggestions about taking over Greenland and pursuing Canada to become the U.S.'s 51st state. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
