The Netherlands intends to tighten rules for arriving refugees and will seek the possibility of opting out of participation in the EU migration policy. This is stated in the coalition agreement concluded by four parties to form a new government.
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The text of the document was published on the website dedicated to the formation of the new cabinet of ministers. As noted in the 26-page agreement, entitled “Hope, Courage and Pride“, the Netherlands aims to introduce “the toughest possible regime for asylum seekers“, including tighter border controls and stricter rules for refugees entering the country. In addition, “a request for the possibility of opting out of European refugee and migrant policies will be submitted to the European Commission as soon as possible.” It remains unclear when this demand will be sent and whether it will be satisfied.
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Earlier it became known that the Dutch far-right Freedom Party led by Geert Wilders, which won the parliamentary elections in November 2023, was able to reach an agreement with the Citizens-Farmers Movement, the New Social Contract and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy in order to create a ruling coalition with a right-wing bias and the formation of a new government.
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The next step would be to appoint an independent mediator to help the parties form a cabinet. This process is expected to take at least a month. It remains unknown who will become the country’s new prime minister. The parties participating in the negotiations previously agreed that the new cabinet would be programmatic. This, in particular, provides that the coalition agreement will not be a traditional voluminous document with clear goals and ways to achieve them, but a program that will set only the basics of the political course. The leaders of all four parties will remain in parliament and will not be part of the new government.
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The new agreement provides for continued political and military support for Ukraine and will make it legally binding to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense in accordance with NATO standards. The two sides also want to ease the burden of environmental regulations on farmers, as well as expand offshore natural gas production and nuclear power production as part of plans to reduce the Netherlands’ dependence on “unreliable countries“.
