{"id":361673,"date":"2024-05-16T10:26:23","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T08:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/05\/16\/paesi-bassi-accordo-governo-destra\/"},"modified":"2024-06-06T15:04:05","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T13:04:05","slug":"the-netherlands-ready-for-a-right-wing-government-agreement-found-after-six-months-wrath-of-european-greens-against-liberals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/05\/16\/the-netherlands-ready-for-a-right-wing-government-agreement-found-after-six-months-wrath-of-european-greens-against-liberals\/","title":{"rendered":"The Netherlands ready for a right-wing government: agreement found after six months. Wrath of European Greens against liberals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – With extreme hardship, with goodbyes, and comebacks at the negotiating tables, with the most charismatic (and controversial) leader stepping down as prime minister. Almost six months since\u00a0early elections, which saw the far-right, anti-immigration, anti-Islamic and strongly Euroskeptic PVV (Party for Freedom) party triumph, the Netherlands is set\u00a0for a new coalition government skewed to the right<\/strong>. As reported by<\/a> Dutch broadcaster Nos<\/em>, the far-right party has reached a government agreement called\u00a0Hope, Courage, and Pride\u00a0<\/em>with the liberals of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the center-right New Social Contract (NSC), and the Civic-Farmer Movement (BBB)<\/strong>, which this morning (May 16) will be submitted to the Presidency of the Tweede Kamer <\/em>(the lower house of the Netherlands’ national Parliament).<\/p>\n

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\"Paesi<\/a>
Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders (credits: Remko de Waal \/ Anp \/ Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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“We have reached an agreement with the negotiators,” the leader of the far-right party, Geert Wilders<\/strong>, told the press yesterday afternoon (May 15), who in the course of long and difficult negotiations had to give up<\/a> becoming the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands while pushing for a right-wing coalition that would include the PVV. At the moment it is unclear who will be the head of the cabinet, negotiations are still ongoing, and Wilders himself cut short on reporters’ questions: “Discussions about the Prime Minister will be held at a later date<\/strong>.” At this point, the government program – which for now has not been made public – will be presented and debated next week in Parliament,\u00a0testing how compact the majority is\u00a0(minimum 76 out of 150 MPs)<\/strong>. In addition to the 37 far-right nationalists of the Party for Freedom, the future government is expected to count on the support of the seven\u00a0farmer populists of BBB, the 24 liberals of VVD and the 20 center-right of the NSC, leaving the coalition between the Labor Party and the Green Left GroenLinks (PvdA\/Gl) to lead the opposition along with 10 other smaller parties.<\/p>\n

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\"Netherlands<\/a>
From left: New Social Contract (NSC) leader Pieter Omtzigt and Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders (credits: Robin Utrecht \/ ANP \/ Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

But the fallout from the government agreement in the Netherlands at the European level<\/strong> is already heavy.\u00a0A week ago, the leaders of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe, the Greens\/Ale and the Left signed a joint statement<\/a> pledging not enter coalitions with the far right “at any level.”\u00a0<\/strong>However, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) party and the Renew Europe group in the EU Parliament. Both the emerging center-right New Social Contract (NSC) party and the Civic-Country Movement (BBB) have signaled their intention to join the European People’s Party (criticized for not signing the joint declaration). “This is a shocking betrayal of liberal and democratic values<\/strong>,” the Greens Spitzenkandidaten<\/em> in the June European elections, Terry Reintke<\/strong> and Bas Eickhout <\/strong>lashed out: “This move by the Dutch liberals and conservatives is also in clear contradiction to last week’s joint declaration.”<\/p>\n

Wilders’ party not only wants to “ban” mosques, Korans, and Islamic schools in the country<\/strong> and “expel” Dutch dual nationals who commit crimes, but also\u00a0call for\u00a0a<\/strong> referendum to leave the European Union<\/strong>. The aspiration for “Nexit” (from Netherlands<\/em> plus exit<\/em>) in one of the founding member states of the Union worries not only pro-European parties in the Netherlands, but especially\u00a0EU institutions in Brussels. “The far right will never be able to come to power on its own,” the European Greens make clear, with a lunge at the center-right: “For a long time we could count on liberals and conservatives to keep the far right out of power<\/strong>, now it seems that cynicism, opportunism, and indifference have taken hold among them as well.”<\/p>\n