Cabinet reaches agreement after heated discussion on asylum in the coalition program

During an unusually long Council of Ministers —the weekly Cabinet meeting— on Friday afternoon, the Schoof Cabinet ministers engaged in heated discussions, several sources in The Hague confirmed after De Telegraaf reported. The discussions are said to have been mainly about the passages on asylum in the coalition program and resulted from tensions that boiled over in the coalition this week.

According to De Telegraaf, disputes over asylum and other points of the coalition program are said to have arisen primarily between the ministers of the NSC and the PVV. Allegedly, Pieter Omtzigt's party wants to use the Council of Ministers to "renegotiate" what their party had to give up when forming the new government. Sources from the Hague said, "The whole thing is being steered by Pieter Omtzigt."

"Adoption takes time," the Prime Minister said in response to the difficult meeting. "But it's about something: people's lives. You know the composition of the people in the coalition and the differences." He warned that such disputes "will undoubtedly happen more often in the future," he told De Telegraaf.

Despite the discussion, the Cabinet finally agreed on the coalition program, and the further development of the framework agreement concluded by the coalition parties PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB. The program will be announced next Friday, Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed in his weekly press conference.

Several ministers also confirmed that there had been considerable discussions, although they did not say what they were about. Minister Eelco Heinen (Finance), for example, said that there had been a lot of discussion "on the matter." Minister of the Interior Judith Uitermark spoke of an "intensive discussion." Previously, the Council of Ministers meetings in the new Schoof Cabinet had ended around noon, this time, they lasted until 5:30 p.m.

In his press conference, Schoof spoke of "sometimes quite difficult conversations." He found it "super annoying" that this was leaked to De Telegraaf during the Council of Ministers. He mentioned that information regarding the budget had already been leaked to the media.

The Prime Minister expressed the hope that the coalition program would not be leaked in the run-up to the announcement, but he seemed unsure of this. "I'll see how it goes next week, and I hope my frustration won't be too great," Schoof said.

Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber did not want to discuss a dispute over her ministry. "I may be direct, but I'm not a troublemaker," she said. Everything was also fine for Deputy PVV Prime Minister Fleur Agema. "It was a nice day because there is a coalition program," she said.

Finance Minister Eelco Heinen conceded that it had been tough at times "in terms of issues." "It's also about something. So that's not a bad thing either." According to Heinen, he had not noticed any mutual irritation. "There's a solution for everything, and sometimes it just takes a little longer. And you just have to accept that."

It is well known that asylum is a sensitive issue in the coalition. For the PVV, it is the most important issue, and the party wants to implement it. A party like the NSC believes it is important to preserve the rule of law, for example, when it comes to asylum.