Latest news with #TheHague
CNA
5 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Dutch government collapses after far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
THE HAGUE: The Dutch government collapsed on Tuesday (Jun 3), 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 percent of the vote. Opinion polls put his party at around 20 percent 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.
The National
5 hours ago
- Business
- The National
Trump to attend Nato summit, White House confirms
The White House on Tuesday said US President Donald Trump would attend the Nato summit this month, amid his administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine and have alliance members increase their defence spending. The high-profile meetings, which will be held in The Hague from June 24-25, will come shortly after Mr Trump is set to attend the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Canada, where allies are also expected to discuss a peace deal that would end Russia's war in Ukraine. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the President "remains positive at the progress" in the talks. "The President does not want to see this war prolonged," she told reporters. "He wants the fighting to stop, he wants people to stop dying, and he wants this to be solved at the negotiating table." On Monday, delegates from Russia and Ukraine met briefly in Istanbul for a new round of talks. The day before, Kyiv unleashed a surprise drone offensive that hit Russian heavy bombers and surveillance planes Mr Trump took office this year on a promise to swiftly end the war in Ukraine and end US military aid to Kyiv. He has also advanced an "America First" approach to foreign policy, questioning continued US membership in Nato. He has pushed for members of the alliance to spend larger rates of their gross domestic products on defence, saying European states, which are geographically closer to Ukraine, should do more to support Kyiv. At the same time, Mr Trump has resisted calls, including from his own Republican Party, to impose additional sanctions on Russia as pressure to agree to a ceasefire. "The President has spoken about his position on sanctions on Russia," Ms Leavitt said. "He has smartly kept this as a tool in his toolbox, if necessary."
Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The Defence Review was anything but strategic
It is hard to imagine a major policy looking more outdated within hours of being announced than the Labour Government's Strategic Defence Review (SDR). On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer made a series of grandiose promises about great improvements to Britain's Armed Forces and other security requirements, yet failed to commit the money to pay for them. The Government has raided the overseas aid budget to boost spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP but the Prime Minister declined to set a firm date for when the budgets would rise to 3 per cent. This would happen sometime in the next parliament if circumstances allowed. However, Nato is poised to introduce a new target for allies to spend 3.5 per cent on hard defence and 1.5 per cent on cyber, intelligence and military-related infrastructure, a total of 5 per cent – something not seen in Britain since the Cold War. Doubtless many will refuse to sign up, just as they have all failed to meet the bloc's previous target of 2 per cent. For the UK, the uplift would amount to an extra £30 billion in real terms on top of the spending already planned. Military chiefs have said the Government's promise of new submarines, more ordnance and munitions, an enhanced cyber warfare programme and an improved nuclear deterrent cannot be met on current financial projections. But having claimed to be leading Europe on defence, Sir Keir has no option but to agree at the Nato summit in The Hague later this month, the first to be attended by Donald Trump since his re-election. Indeed, it is the US president's refusal to countenance America's historically high level of support for Europe's defences that has led Nato to seek a far greater contribution from continental countries. The Treasury is completing a spending review which could make big savings in welfare and social programmes but only at the risk of triggering a backlash from Labour MPs. The Government is effectively stymied by its own overblown rhetoric and election manifesto promises. Sir Keir dismissed calls to set specific spending targets as 'performative fantasy politics'. But if the deployments needed for the next two or three decades are to be met then commitments have to be made now. Labour's defence review failed to address what is a generational challenge. To call it 'strategic' was a total misnomer.
Fast Company
7 hours ago
- Business
- Fast Company
What's happening in the Netherlands? Dutch government collapses after far-right party leaves ruling coalition over immigration
Immigration, which has dominated the headlines since in the United States since President Donald Trump kicked off his second term this January, is also making headlines in Europe. On Tuesday in the Netherlands, Prime Minister Dick Schoof stepped down after the leader of the country's far-right party, Geert Wilders, withdrew his party from the ruling coalition over disputes about asylum and immigration, effectively causing the Dutch government's collapse and triggering new snap elections, according to the Guardian. The government collapse comes a few weeks before a major NATO summit in The Hague, and marks the unraveling of a multi-party coalition made up of: Wilders' anti-Islam Freedom party (PVV), the Farmer-Citizens Movement (BBB), the centrist New Social Contract (NSC), and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). 'We had agreed that the Netherlands would become the strictest (on immigration) in Europe, but we're trailing somewhere near the bottom,' Wilders said, according to Reuters. 'I intend to become the next prime minister. I am going to make the PVV bigger than ever.' In 2023, Wilders' PVV actually won by a landslide in the general election, but the four major parties that created the coalition picked Dick Schoof as prime minister, leading longtime Prime Minister Mark Rutte, of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, to step down from the post. At that time, the disputes were over immigration, just as they are today. Last Monday, Wilders' PVV announced a 10-point plan to reduce immigration that would effectively slash migration, temporarily halt asylum seekers who were granted refugee status from reuniting with families, and place soldiers at borders to turn away asylum-seekers. At issue are Syrians who are in the Netherlands as a result of the violence in their home country. The question many political analysts are now asking: Is this another example that Europe is shifting toward the right, as seen by Poland's recent election? On Sunday, voters elected conservative nationalist Karol Nawrocki as that country grapples with the E.U.'s second-highest fiscal deficit, and weighs Ukraine's future as a NATO member state.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Geert Wilders topples Dutch coalition to push immigration agenda in elections
Far-right leader Geert Wilders toppled the Dutch ruling coalition on Tuesday, gambling that an election focused on immigration will deliver victory for his party and secure his decades-old ambition of becoming prime minister. His Freedom Party (PVV) ditched Dick Schoof's government just weeks before the Netherlands hosts a major Nato summit in The Hague. It means a new election will take place – although no date has yet been set – just as Europe faces a resurgence of far-right sentiment on immigration. 'I intend to become the next prime minister,' Wilders told reporters. 'I am going to make the PVV bigger than ever.' But despite a European shift to the right – as seen in Poland's presidential election on Sunday – his plan could still backfire. Polls indicate declining popularity for the PVV since it joined the government. Even if it remains the largest party, fashioning a coalition will be difficult in a deeply polarised nation. Mr Schoof said he and ministers from his party will remain in office in a caretaker capacity until the election, and that he would offer the resignation of PVV ministers to the Dutch king. Wilders, the longest-serving Dutch politician, gradually climbed to power after entering parliament in 1998, running on an anti-Islam platform that called for zero immigration and expelling asylum seekers. He tapped concerns of voters disillusioned with established politics and concerns about housing costs and healthcare that he has associated with immigration. His euroseceptic Freedom Party joined a power-sharing, right-wing coalition in 2024 after a record win in general elections, but Wilders said the government failed to make good on promises to clamp down on immigration. Immigration has slowed significantly since a peak in 2022. The Netherlands received almost two first-time asylum applications per 1,000 inhabitants in 2024, slightly below the European Union average, according to Eurostat data. Ten EU countries had a higher relative number of asylum seekers last year, including neighbouring Germany and Belgium. Junior coalition government members, including the conservative VVD party of ex-prime minister Mark Rutte, were reluctant to embrace some of Wilders' harshest ideas, including closing the borders to asylum seekers, returning Syrian refugees and closing asylum shelters. Those proposals also flew in the face of European Union obligations and a Dutch humanitarian tradition since World War Two of taking in people fleeing conflict. Focusing attention on immigration is a critical electoral strategy for the PVV, said Simon Otjes, assistant professor for Dutch politics at Leiden University. 'Wilders is trying to return the focus back to immigration in the hopes that that will be the main theme in the coming elections,' Otjes said. 'A lot can happen in the next six months and it will be very unpredictable." Wilders' anti-Islam rhetoric has prompted death threats and travel bans to Muslim nations that trade with the Netherlands. His 17-minute film 'Fitna' enraged the Muslim world in 2008 by linking verses from the Koran with footage of terrorist attacks, and he was convicted of discrimination after he insulted Moroccans at a campaign rally in 2014. The central question now will be whether Wilders can turn a future election into a referendum on immigration policy that effectively undercuts his opponents, said Joep van Lit, political researcher at Radboud University in Nijmegen. 'But it's hard to tell how voters will react,' he said.
