FALLING APART
Dutch government COLLAPSES as PM resigns after far-right Geert Wilders withdraws from coalition in asylum-seeker row
Voices across Dutch politics have accused Wilders of playing a cynical game
THE DUTCH government has collapsed after far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his party from the coalition amid an asylum row.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof declared he would offer his resignation hours later, levelling criticism at the anti-immigration, Euro-sceptic populist.
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Wilders' PVV party was the largest in the four-party coalition, which had been in place since July 2024.
Schoof slammed the decision to withraw as "irresponsible and unnecessary".
He added: "As far as I'm concerned, this shouldn't have happened."
Former coalition partners have accused Wilders of engineering the crisis - and using asylum as cover to make a lunge for power.
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Earlier in the day, Wilders said he intended to become Prime Minister of the Netherlands and "ensure that the PVV becomes bigger than ever in the next elections".
In a last-ditch effort to paper the cracks, Schoof called a meeting between coalition leaders on Tuesday morning.
But Wilders walked out after just one minute - sounding the death knell for the current government.
The flash-point was supposedly a row over asylum regulations.
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Wilders had demanded ten additional measures - including a freeze on asylum applications and halting the construction of reception centres.
The populist figurehead thundered on X this afternoon: "No signature for our asylum plans. PVV leaves the coalition."
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Coalition VVD party leader Dilan Yesilgoz called the move "super irresponsible", adding: "This wasn't about asylum at all."
Deputy Prime Minister Mona Keijzer, from the BBB, said: "I think Wilders is betraying the Netherlands."
The opposition socialist party - not part of the coalition - said the country had been "liberated from a political hostage situation".
Leader Jimmy Dijk said the Netherlands had been ruled by "four right-wing quarrelsome parties that achieve nothing".
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Armida van Rij, Head of the Europe Programme at Chatham House, claimed that Wilders wanted the government to collapse as support for his party dwindled in polls.
PVV ministers will leave the cabinet, while those from the remaining three parties will continue for now in a caretaker government.
Any fresh election is unlikely to be held before October, and the formation of a new government traditionally tends to take months in the Netherlands.
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Analysts expect Wilders to position asylum front-and-centre of his election campaign, when it comes around.
However, this may bring him limited success given his party has been responsible for asylum and immigration for the past year.
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