THE HAGUE: Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he would resign on Tuesday, just hours after anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders pulled his PVV party out of the right-wing coalition, in a move that is likely to trigger snap elections.
Ministers from Wilders’ PVV party will leave the cabinet, while the remaining ministers will continue for now in a caretaker government.
Any election will likely not be held before October, and the formation of a new government traditionally tends to take months in the fractured Dutch political landscape.
This comes as the hard right is growing in Europe, with anger over migration and the cost of living at risk of eroding Europe’s unity over how to deal with Russia and with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Wilders said earlier on Tuesday that his party was pulling out because the other three coalition partners were not willing to support his ideas on asylum and immigration.
“No signature under our asylum plans. The PVV leaves the coalition,“ Wilders said in a post on X.
The others parties in the coalition now have the option to try and proceed as a minority government, though they are not expected to.
Opposition parties on Tuesday called for new elections.
