Political situation in the Netherlands

Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Peter Dejong / AP  

 

Migration row brings down the government of the Netherlands 

  

The government of the Netherlands is splitting due to disagreements over migration policy, writes AFP with reference to several local media. The information was confirmed at 10 p.m. by one of the governing parties, Reuters writes.  

 

The four-party government, led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte, took office only a year and a half ago. Rutte has been in crisis talks with his coalition partners this week but is said to have failed to reach a solution.  

 

Rutte's center-right party VVD has strongly wanted to tighten the rules for family reunification, but the Christian Democratic CU has strongly opposed this.  

 

The government is the fourth coalition government Rutte has led in succession, and he is thus the leader in Europe who has been in office the second longest after Hungary's Viktor Orban.  

 

According to De Telegraf, the government crisis means that there will probably be new elections in the country this autumn.  

 

 

Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Piroschka van de Wouw / AP  

 

Rutte: A regrettable political reality - new elections await  

 

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte confirmed on Friday evening that his four-party government is resigning and that he will submit his resignation letter to the king, writes Reuters.  

 

He explained that the governing parties have not been able to agree on the migration issue. 

 

- This is a very regrettable political reality, Rutte said. 

 

- The next step will be to call new elections, he continued. 

 

Outside the government building in The Hague, people gathered after the announcement that the government had collapsed. 

 

- I hope that the next government succeeds better, especially when it comes to migration, says 32-year-old Pieter Balkenende.  

 

The migration issue has long divided the government. Rutte's party VVD has wanted to tighten the rules for, among other things, family reunification. Two smaller parties in the coalition, the Christian Democratic CU and the social liberal D66, have firmly opposed it.