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Dutch government collapses over immigration policy dispute

July 12th, 2023 | Tags:
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, pictured in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in April. Photo: Reuters
CNN

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Monday he would step down as leader of the country’s ruling party and leave politics, after his government collapsed over immigration policy, Dutch national broadcaster and CNN affiliate NOS reported.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Friday that his government would tender its resignation to the Dutch king, triggering new elections to be held in the fall.

Rutte, who has been in power since 2010 and is Europe’s second-longest serving leader, said that disputes over measures to restrict immigration had caused his four-party coalition government to fracture.

“It’s no secret that the coalition partners have differing opinions about immigration policy,” Rutte said at a press conference late Friday night, claiming that “those differences have become insurmountable.”

King Willem-Alexander has returned early from his vacation to meet Rutte on Saturday, when the Prime Minister will formally offer his resignation.

The move was sparked by differences between Rutte’s conservative VVD party and coalition counterparts over measures to limit the flow of asylum seekers to the country.

Rutte said the coalition had “lost its political foundation” after the breakdown in negotiations. “That is extremely regrettable and at the same time a political reality we cannot avoid,” he said.

As well as VVD, the current coalition government consists of the liberal D66 party, the centrist Christian Union and more socially conservative Christian Democratic Appeal.

VVD has proposed limiting entrance for the children of war refugees who are already in the country and making families wait for at least two years before they can be united.

Two of VVD’s coalition parties – the Christian Union and D66 – refused to support the restrictions, leading to the split.

“In the Netherlands we have a tradition of bridging differences. We are a country of minorities. We take each other into account. That is the only way we can come up with supported solutions. That’s why we made agreements with four parties,” Dutch Finance Minister and leader of the DD6 party Sigrid Kaag said Friday.

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