The Dutch government has collapsed after just 11 months in office, with far-right leader Geert Wilders pulling his Party for Freedom (PVV) out of the coalition on Tuesday, June 3. But there’s more to it of course.
Here’s what you need to know about the crisis that’s sent shockwaves through The Hague.
What happened?
Geert Wilders torpedoed his own government after coalition partners VVD, NSC, and BBB refused to sign off on his radical 10-point migration plan he presented last week.
The PVV leader had demanded a complete stop to asylum applications, military deployment at Dutch borders, immediate deportation of Syrian refugees, the closure of asylum centres, and revocation of Dutch citizenship for dual nationals convicted of violent crimes.
And his coalition partners weren’t having it.
Why did the coalition say no?
Many of Wilders’ demands directly conflict with EU human rights laws and the UN Refugee Convention.
Case in point, the German government was called out only yesterday by their judges. They argue that it isn’t allowed to just flat out close the border for asylum seekers.
Other Dutch party leaders pointed out that existing coalition agreements already covered similar policies and accused Wilders of threatening to “blow things up” rather than work within the established framework.
They offered him a clear path to implement current migration policies through his own minister, Marjolein Faber, but Wilders demanded they renegotiate the entire coalition agreement and “sign at the line.”
Speaking with the press, VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius summed up the frustration: “If your goal is to blow things up, just say so.”
The timing couldn’t be worse — the Netherlands is scheduled to host a NATO summit in The Hague in just three weeks, creating diplomatic complications as it’s time for the Dutch to shine on the international political stage.
What happens to the Dutch government now?
The current cabinet will continue as a caretaker government with severely limited powers until a new administration can be formed, a so-called demissionary cabinet.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof, the non-party figure who was appointed when it was agreed that Wilders should not take the role, will oversee this transitional period.
The parliament’s speaker will now consult with party leaders about possible paths forward, but the options look grim.
Will there be new elections in the Netherlands?
The remaining three coalition parties lack a parliamentary majority, making it nearly impossible to form a stable alternative government. This leaves early elections as the most likely outcome.
In fact, according to NOS reporter Marlees de Rooy, “New elections are now imminent.”
The process isn’t automatic, though. Parliament must formally dissolve the government, and there’s always a chance, a slim one though, that creative coalition-building could produce an alternative.
🇳🇱 The Dutch government has collapsed after Geert Wilders' far-right PVV withdrew from the coalition over asylum policy disagreements. Prime Minister Dick Schoof now faces political turmoil, with calls for immediate elections. Polls suggest PVV may lose seats but remain the… pic.twitter.com/ubu0vSQQNP
— Europe News 🇪🇺 (@EuropeNewsEU) June 3, 2025
In theory, the PvdA-GreenLeft combination might just take the PVV’s spot and then the Dutch would have another government without elections, but we wouldn’t put money on this happening.
The Dutch electoral system’s complexity means forming governments can take months, adding to the uncertainty for the coming months.
Could Wilders benefit politically from this crisis?
He could. Wilders has spent his entire career building political capital as an outsider fighting “the establishment,” and this collapse fits perfectly into that narrative.
He can now campaign on the idea that his coalition partners “betrayed” Dutch voters who backed his anti-immigration agenda.
However, there’s a risk. Some voters might see him as an unstable coalition partner who can’t actually deliver when given real power.
The PVV and Geert Wilders also participated in the ‘Rutte 1’ cabinet and then dropped support, causing it to collapse in 2012. This shows for the second time that if the political kitchen gets hot, Wilders can’t stand the heat and beats it.
It’s also not a pretty sight for the PVV that their minister for immigration, Marjolein Faber, could not deliver while in charge.
She was widely perceived as incompetent, and that’s a theme now among the ministers who have participated in the cabinet on behalf of the PVV.
What are the polls doing now?
While comprehensive post-collapse polling isn’t yet available, pre-crisis surveys showed that the PVV from Wilders, centre-right VVD , Rutte’s former party) and PvdA-GreenLeft (a combination of Labour and the Greens) are virtually tied if there would be elections now.
It looks like the BBB (Farmers party, now at 10 seats) and NSC (a new party left to its own devices by its popular founder Pieter Omtzigt) could be left with only a few seats while the former political giant CDA makes a comeback, basically replacing the NSC.
Several small left-leaning parties are also making marginal gains, but it remains to be seen if those hold up when elections actually come to pass.
Why did Wilders really leave the government?
Immigration wasn’t dominating headlines like before. Instead, Dutch voters were focused on Trump’s anti-European rhetoric (which Wilders supports), Russia’s growing threats (Wilders visited Moscow as recently as 2018), and Israel’s actions in Gaza.
These are all positions that put Wilders on the wrong side of the majority of Dutch public opinion.
On top of this, asylum numbers were actually going down. This was mostly due to fewer Syrians coming to the Netherlands this year and not because of the actions of minister Faber.
In the end, the PVV ministers developed an image, bolstered by critique from the VVD, that they were incompetent.
Beyond the official migration disputes, this collapse reveals deeper truths about Wilders’ political strategy. The PVV leader has built his career on opposition; it’s much easier to promise radical change than to deliver it within democratic constraints.
Governing requires compromise, legal compliance, and working with partners who don’t share your worldview. For a politician whose brand is built on uncompromising opposition to immigration and Islam, the messy realities of coalition government were always going to be problematic.
Either way, Dutch politics just got a lot more interesting.
What are your thoughts on these political developments? Share them in the comments!
Dutch politics is becoming increasingly interesting and with that, there’s real hope for meaningful change.
Let’s hope the ‘new government’ stands firmly for those who were born in the Netherlands too, those who have no criminal history, pay their own way, only want to contribute to society, and whose parents and forebears, generation after generation were Dutch. At a minimum, these individuals should have the ‘unquestionable right’ to reside in the country of their birth, live near their families, and visit the gravesites of ancestors who fought for the Netherlands’ freedom, values, and human rights.
While it is essential that the Netherlands continues to show compassion by not refusing ‘genuine’ refugees, it is equally important that Dutch-born citizens are not unjustly kept from returning to their homeland. No one born in the Netherlands, with proven deep familial and historical ties to the nation, should be kept from returning if so desired to reunite with family, especially when they seek only to come home, reconnect with family, and contribute to the society that shaped them.
This is not just about policy, it’s about justice, belonging, and respect for the legacy of those who helped build and defend the Netherlands 🇳🇱