Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, now serving in a caretaker role following his resignation, asked parliament on Wednesday to support defence and security issues. This came a day after far-right leader Geert Wilders unexpectedly withdrew from the coalition government.
While no date was set for a snap election, it will likely be in the autumn based on previous election cycles.
The timing of Wilders’ exit – which he blamed on slow government progress in imposing immigration restrictions – is awkward, just three weeks before the Dutch are due to host a NATO summit. There, world leaders will be asked to more than double their defence and security-related spending target from 2% to 5% of GDP.
“The fall of this cabinet, in my view, was unnecessary and irresponsible,” Schoof, who resigned hours after Wilders pulled his PVV party out of the coalition, told the 150-seat lower house.
“Nationally and internationally, we face major challenges, and more than ever, decisiveness is required for our security, resilience, and the economy in a rapidly changing world.”
Support For Key Policies
Schoof asked legislators to back key policy decisions relating to military support for Ukraine, defence spending, cost of living, housing, migration and tariffs.
Wilders, who reiterated his plans to freeze all immigration, said he aimed to become the next prime minister, even as his party steadily lost popularity while in power.
“I proposed a plan to close the borders to asylum seekers, to stop them, to send them away, to stop building asylum centers and instead to shut them down,” Wilders said during a debate convened to address the political crisis.
“I asked my coalition partners to sign off on it, but they didn’t,” he said, explaining the timing of his exit decision.
Frans Timmermans, a former EU commissioner who leads the left-wing opposition, said he would work with the caretaker government, which no longer includes Wilders’ Freedom Party, on matters of security, and accused Wilders of causing political disagreement and paralysis.
“When responsibility must be taken, when difficult decisions need to be made, Mr. Wilders is nowhere to be found,” he said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
