Right-wing politician Geert Wilders has pulled his party out of the Netherlands' ruling coalition over disagreements over tougher immigration rules, sparking a political crisis and potentially ending Prime Minister Dick Schoof's 11-month rule.
Mr Wilders announced his decision in a post on X after a brief meeting in parliament with the leaders of the four parties representing the divided administration.
The government's collapse comes just three weeks before an expected summit of NATO leaders in The Hague and amid global instability.
The future remains uncertain. The government could try to maintain power as a minority or call new elections at the end of the year. Chouf called an emergency cabinet meeting for early afternoon.
Mr Wilders told the press that he was ending his support for the coalition and withdrawing his ministers from the government because it had failed to meet his demands for stricter immigration rules.
“I support the strictest asylum policy, not the fall of the Netherlands,” said Mr Wilders, whose Party for Freedom still leads Dutch polls, although the gap with the centre-left opposition is narrow.
The leader of the right-wing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, Dilan Yesilgoz, said before the meeting that Mr. Schoof called on everyone to act responsibly.
“The prime minister who addressed us this morning said that we are facing serious international challenges, there is a war on our continent and we may face an economic crisis,” Mr. Yesilgoz told reporters in parliament.
However, just a few minutes later the meeting ended, as did Mr Wilders' participation in the government.
“I am shocked,” Mr Yesilgoz said, describing Mr Wilders' decision as “extremely irresponsible”.
After years in opposition, Mr Wilders' party won the last election on a promise to reduce migration. But he has become increasingly frustrated with what he sees as the coalition's slow pace of implementation.
Last week, Mr Wilders called on his coalition partners to sign up to a 10-point plan aimed at drastically reducing migration, including using the army to guard land borders and a total ban on entry for all asylum seekers.
He then said that if the migration policy was not changed, his party would “leave the cabinet.”
Mr Wilders' decision came shortly after conservative Karol Nawrocki was declared the winner of the second round of the presidential election
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
