Geert Wilders, with his desired asylum measures, has managed to put the subject back on the political agenda. VVD, NSC, and BBB, who initially reacted with a shrug to the plans of the PVV leader, will discuss this with their coalition partner on Monday evening.
Wilders presented a plan last week Monday at a rare press conference, with which he wants to take extra measures in the area of asylum reception. According to the PVV leader, it is not going fast enough, even though his party, with Minister Marjolein Faber (Asylum), actually holds the reins in this dossier.
His ten-point plan includes that he wants to close the borders for asylum seekers, evict status holders from asylum seeker centers, and put a stop to family reunification.
Wilders tried to further increase the pressure on Sunday via X. If a “majority” of his proposals were not met, then the PVV would step out of the coalition. Similar words were already spoken on Monday at the press conference, although Wilders backtracked not much later and said he was “not threatening anyone.”
The PVV leader has often threatened a cabinet collapse, but has not carried out that threat so far. It is also questionable whether the other parties will want to let it come to a cabinet crisis.
In The Hague, there is nevertheless interest in the impromptu coalition consultation. That is expected to start at 6:00 PM.
Coalition parties were willing to talk
VVD, NSC, and BBB initially reacted nonchalantly to Wilders’ words, which mainly seemed to have the goal of getting the conversation back to asylum. Wilders’ coalition partners did indicate that they were willing to discuss his wishes.
That is happening now, but the chance is small that an extra package of asylum measures will be on the table on Monday evening. All coalition parties are open to stricter asylum measures, but only BBB openly indicated that they saw merit in Wilders’ plans.
The party submitted a motion last week to investigate whether a temporary stop on family reunification is even possible. That motion was supported by a majority of the House, including PVV, VVD, and NSC.
VVD and NSC were more reserved about the ten-point plan. They mainly pointed to PVV Minister Faber, who according to them should get to work with the measures from the coalition agreement.
The coalition relationship is further under pressure
The already tense atmosphere within the coalition has certainly not improved in the past week. The coalition has been struggling with disputes and mutual distrust since the beginning.
VVD faction leader Dilan Yesilgöz was also not very impressed with Wilders’ threat on Sunday. “You can always talk to us,” she said in the television program Buitenhof. According to Yesilgöz, her coalition partner should mainly worry about security, one of the most important subjects for her party.
She openly criticized that Wilders instead was at a meeting of the conservative organization CPAC in Hungary last weekend. “If you then, in the week that you also threaten to blow up the cabinet, also celebrate your weekend with all sorts of Putin buddies for reasons that are difficult to understand, then I really find that irresponsible.”