Written by Bert H. Meyer
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Incoming Dutch government led by nationalists Geert WildersThe PVV party will consider opting out of European Union immigration rules as it faces an asylum crisis.
Wilders reached a deal on Wednesday to form the Netherlands' most right-wing government in decades, nearly six months after his landslide election victory.
In a government plan published early on Thursday, the four-party coalition aims for the “toughest asylum system in history” with tighter border controls and tougher rules for asylum seekers arriving in the Netherlands.
The Union states in the agreement that “opt-out provisions for European asylum and migration policy will be submitted to the European Commission as soon as possible”.
It is unclear whether such a request will be granted.
The movement of workers will also be curtailed and admissions of foreign students to Dutch universities will be tightened, officials said.
The agreement gives Wilders' PVV an overwhelming majority of 88 seats in the 150-member lower house of parliament, in alliance with outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte's center-right VVD, the new party NSC, and the peasant protest party BBB. .
With an agreement in principle reached, an independent mediator will be tasked with assembling a cabinet of ministers, a process expected to take at least another month.
It remains unclear who will become prime minister, as Mr Wilders, known for his outspoken views on Islam, vowed in March to step down as prime minister in order to bring a future government partner to the negotiating table.
Mr Wilders has not yet announced who he will recommend for the top post.
The new government also said it would continue political and military support to Ukraine and make it legally binding for the Netherlands to spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product on national defence, in line with the NATO agreement.
Both parties aim to build four nuclear power plants over the next 10 years and promise to ease the burden of environmental regulations on farmers.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Sonali Paul)
