The governing coalition in the Netherlands collapsed on Tuesday after the populist leader Geert Wilders withdrew his party over a dispute about migration policy, ending a rocky 11-month rule by the country’s first far-right government and triggering early elections.
The move by Mr. Wilders shows how the debate over unauthorized migration continues to roil European politics, a decade after a large-scale influx of people fleeing wars or seeking better economic opportunities unsettled the region.
The coalition’s collapse was confirmed by Prime Minister Dick Schoof, who said he would present his resignation to King Willem-Alexander. He said he would stay on as the leader of a caretaker administration, without Mr. Wilders’s party, until elections and the formation of a new government.
“I think it’s unnecessary and irresponsible,” Mr. Schoof said of Mr. Wilders’s decision.
It was not immediately clear when new elections would take place, but they appeared unlikely to happen before October, plunging the country into political uncertainty for at least the rest of the year. Mr. Wilders’s party has been dropping in Dutch polls lately.
Mr. Wilders announced the withdrawal of his Party for Freedom from the four-party coalition on X, saying it was because of his partners’ refusal to sign off on a new list of proposals to curb migration. “No signature for our migration plans,” he said.
The political crisis comes as the Netherlands prepares to host a NATO summit on June 24 and 25.
