[ad_1]
THE HAGUE: The tense talks between the four parties that make up the ruling coalition headed by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte have failed to broker an agreement on ways to curb immigration, Dutch media reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.
If months of talks on this thorny issue end in failure, it could bring down the administration and force a general election. The government did not confirm the reports and no minister immediately walked out of the meeting near Rutte’s office.
Rutte, the longest-serving Dutch prime minister, presided over late-night meetings on Wednesday and Thursday that did not produce an agreement. More conversations began on Friday night, and he declined to answer questions about the subject at his weekly news conference before the discussions.
“Everyone wants to find a good and effective solution that also does justice to the fact that it is about human lives,” said the Finance Minister Sigrid CageA member of the centrist D66 party said before the talks started.
The discussions highlighted ideological divisions in the alliance between partner parties that do not support hard crackdown on immigration – the D66 party and its fellow centrist Cristinoni, or Christian Union – and the two that favor tougher action – Rutte’s conservative party, People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy. and Christian Democrats.
The coalition has been trying for months to reach an agreement to stem the flow of new migrants arriving in the country of about 18 million people. The proposals reportedly include creating two categories of asylum – a temporary one for people fleeing conflict and a permanent one for people trying to escape persecution – and reducing the number of family members allowed to join asylum seekers in the Netherlands.
Justice Minister Dylan Yeshelgos-Zygerios, a member of Rutte’s party, said before the latest round of talks.
Last year, hundreds of asylum seekers were forced to sleep outside in squalid conditions near an overcrowded reception center as the number of people arriving in the Netherlands outnumbered the available beds. Dutch aid agencies provided assistance.
Just over 21,500 people from outside Europe sought asylum in the Netherlands in 2022, according to the country’s statistics office. Tens of thousands more have moved to the Netherlands to work and study.
The numbers put pressure on housing, which was already in short supply in the densely populated country.
Rutte’s government has worked for a law that could force municipalities to provide accommodation for newly arrived asylum seekers, but the legislation has yet to pass through both houses of parliament.
The prime minister also boosted EU efforts to slow migration to the 27-nation bloc. Rutte visited Tunisia last month with his Italian counterpart and the head of the European Union’s executive committee to offer more than one billion euros in financial aid to save the tottering economy in the North African country and stop migration from its shores to Europe.
Rutte’s coalition government, the fourth he has led, took power in January 2022 after the longest coalition negotiations in Dutch political history.
If the four-party coalition collapses, there could potentially be an election for the 150-seat lower house of the Dutch parliament later this year amid a polarized and divided political landscape. The Rutte government is likely to remain in office as a transitional administration until a new government is formed.
During the provincial elections earlier this year, a pro-farmer populist party put Rutte’s party in second place. The defeat was seen as a potential catalyst for Root to try his best to hold his coalition together until his term ends in 2025.
If months of talks on this thorny issue end in failure, it could bring down the administration and force a general election. The government did not confirm the reports and no minister immediately walked out of the meeting near Rutte’s office.
Rutte, the longest-serving Dutch prime minister, presided over late-night meetings on Wednesday and Thursday that did not produce an agreement. More conversations began on Friday night, and he declined to answer questions about the subject at his weekly news conference before the discussions.
“Everyone wants to find a good and effective solution that also does justice to the fact that it is about human lives,” said the Finance Minister Sigrid CageA member of the centrist D66 party said before the talks started.
The discussions highlighted ideological divisions in the alliance between partner parties that do not support hard crackdown on immigration – the D66 party and its fellow centrist Cristinoni, or Christian Union – and the two that favor tougher action – Rutte’s conservative party, People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy. and Christian Democrats.
The coalition has been trying for months to reach an agreement to stem the flow of new migrants arriving in the country of about 18 million people. The proposals reportedly include creating two categories of asylum – a temporary one for people fleeing conflict and a permanent one for people trying to escape persecution – and reducing the number of family members allowed to join asylum seekers in the Netherlands.
Justice Minister Dylan Yeshelgos-Zygerios, a member of Rutte’s party, said before the latest round of talks.
Last year, hundreds of asylum seekers were forced to sleep outside in squalid conditions near an overcrowded reception center as the number of people arriving in the Netherlands outnumbered the available beds. Dutch aid agencies provided assistance.
Just over 21,500 people from outside Europe sought asylum in the Netherlands in 2022, according to the country’s statistics office. Tens of thousands more have moved to the Netherlands to work and study.
The numbers put pressure on housing, which was already in short supply in the densely populated country.
Rutte’s government has worked for a law that could force municipalities to provide accommodation for newly arrived asylum seekers, but the legislation has yet to pass through both houses of parliament.
The prime minister also boosted EU efforts to slow migration to the 27-nation bloc. Rutte visited Tunisia last month with his Italian counterpart and the head of the European Union’s executive committee to offer more than one billion euros in financial aid to save the tottering economy in the North African country and stop migration from its shores to Europe.
Rutte’s coalition government, the fourth he has led, took power in January 2022 after the longest coalition negotiations in Dutch political history.
If the four-party coalition collapses, there could potentially be an election for the 150-seat lower house of the Dutch parliament later this year amid a polarized and divided political landscape. The Rutte government is likely to remain in office as a transitional administration until a new government is formed.
During the provincial elections earlier this year, a pro-farmer populist party put Rutte’s party in second place. The defeat was seen as a potential catalyst for Root to try his best to hold his coalition together until his term ends in 2025.
[ad_2]
