Asylum deal threatens far-right PVV’s Cabinet plans; “We have a problem,” says Wilders

“We have a problem,” PVV leader Geert Wilders said about the Senate’s majority support for the asylum distribution law on Tuesday. The majority was achieved thanks to the support of the VVD Senators. Wilders will discuss this during the formation talks with the VVD, NSC, and BBB, the PVV leader told the media before entering the said meeting. “We’re going to talk about it soon.”

In the run-up to the parliamentary elections, the VVD pulled its support from the bill that would give the government the option to force municipalities to take in a fair share of asylum seekers. About a third of Dutch municipalities hasn’t sheltered a single asylum seeker in twelve years, RTV Noord recently discovered. The fact that the VVD politicians in the Senate decided to back the law by outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Security and Justice, VVD) came as a surprise.

The far-right, anti-immigration PVV strongly opposed the asylum distribution law, calling it “coercive” because it forces municipalities to shelter asylum seekers. “MY GOD,” an outraged Wilders posted on X on Tuesday once it became clear that the Senate would support the distribution law.

The VVD Senators going against the VVD leadership’s line to support a law that is such a sore point for the PVV has got to raise doubts with Wilders about whether cooperation with the Liberals is worth it, RTL Nieuws’ political reporter Fons Lambie said.

“Judging from Wilders’ comment, this immediately creates a tense atmosphere in the formation,” Lambie said. “The yes vote of the VVD faction in the Senate is a setback for the forming parties. In parliament, the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB had actually tried to put the law on hold.”

VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz told the Telegraaf that she would have preferred to first implement measures to limit the number of asylum seekers and only then consider the asylum distribution law. “But the Senate has chosen to act the other way around, and that is their right,” she said. Asked about the VVD Senators choosing a different line than hers, she said: “I did not use my authority as leader to say: you should vote for or against,”