The new hard-right Dutch coalition pledges stricter limits on asylum

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The new hard-right Dutch government pledged Tuesday to launch stricter policies to hold back or kick out migrants who don’t qualify for asylum, as the king laid out the administration’s plans in a speech to open the parliamentary year.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, a mostly ceremonial monarch, summarized the wide-ranging policy blueprint for the coming year and beyond a day after members of the hard right-led coalition publicly bickered over its plans to slash migration, underscoring divisions even within the four-party coalition over how to push through the reforms.

The speech was a formal expression of the country's sharp turn to the right after last year's election victory by the populist anti-immigration Party for Freedom led by Geert Wilders, which echoed a sentiment that is spreading across Europe.

Among a long list of policy priorities, the king — in a speech written by the government — said that “problems are particularly urgent in the asylum chain” and that the government will urgently do all in its power “to reduce the number of asylum applications.”

"Key words are faster, stricter and more frugal,” the king said as anti-immigration leader Geert Wilders and other lawmakers looked on.

The speech was surrounded by pageantry, patriotism and even a smattering of republicanism, as the royals were driven through The Hague in ornate horse-drawn carriages past cheering spectators and a small group of protesters seeking an end to the monarchy.

It also ushered in the first major test of a technocratic new government chosen by the right-wing parties that triumphed in last year's elections.

The speech also pledged to tackle issues like chronic housing shortages, a cost of living crisis and pollution caused by the country's huge agriculture sector, while also keeping government spending in check.

“Nobody will be forced to close their farm,” the king said as Caroline van der Plas, leader of the Farmer Citizen Movement that is part of the coalition government, nodded her approval.

On foreign policy, the king said the traditional Dutch open outlook on the world will not change.

“After all, cooperation within the European Union and NATO is our main guarantee of prosperity, stability and security. The decision to continue supporting Ukraine serves direct national interests, both military and economic,” he said.

On Monday, a senior member of a party in the coalition said she would oppose the government's plans to rein in immigration if a key political advisory panel rejects them.

The comments Monday by Nicolien van Vroonhoven of the New Social Contract party triggered angry reactions from Wilders ’s populist anti-immigration Party for Freedom, which won national elections last year, and the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.

As if addressing the question head on, the speech said that government policy “will be logical, explicable and above all feasible. Naturally the government will stay within the bounds of the rule of law,” while also cautioning that plans could be limited by “spatial, environmental or financial constraints, or by personnel shortages.”

The spat underscored the fragility of a coalition that was pulled together after months of negotiations. Prime Minister Dick Schoof was eventually chosen to head a Cabinet made up of politicians and civil servants because the leaders did not want the outspoken Wilders as prime minister.

While the government seeks consensus on a deal to drastically dial back immigration, a town in the northern Netherlands opened a sports hall overnight to accommodate asylum seekers who otherwise would have been forced to sleep outdoors because of a shortage of space at a reception center.

The local mayor accused Marjolein Faber, the minister responsible for asylum seekers and migrants, of allowing an accommodation crisis to escalate.

“The minister is shunning her responsibility. She is responsible for people who come to the Netherlands for asylum. She has had enough time and sufficient opportunity to accommodate people in a decent way. She consciously does not do this,” Mayor Jaap Velema said in a statement Monday.

The government is planning to declare an “asylum crisis” to pave the way for tougher measures including reining in visas for family members of people granted asylum and making it easier and quicker to deport migrants who are not eligible for asylum.

The government also plans to apply for an opt-out from European Union migration rules and step up border check following similar moves implemented Monday by neighboring Germany. It remains unclear how many of the Dutch government's plans can be enforced.