Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders announced Wednesday that his Party for Freedom (PVV) will support proposed reforms to the asylum system in the Netherlands after securing a key concession to officially criminalise being an illegal migrant in the country.
The passage of the Asylum Emergency Measures Act, which was thrown into doubt after PVV leader Wilders sensationally walked away from the government for not going far enough, appears to be assured after the populist leader stated that his party can now support the bill following the adoption of an amendment to criminalise illegal migrants, De Telegraaf reported.
The longstanding goal of Wilders was adopted after a surprise victory in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, as members of the GreenLeft–Labour (GL/PvdA) party, including globalist leader Frans Timmermans, attended a celebration dedicated to “Ketikoti”, which marks the abolition of slavery in Suriname and the Dutch Antilles in 1863. Thus, the left-wing opposition was not present when the House of Representatives held a vote on the amendment.
“Many thanks to Timmermans and other MPs from GL/PvdA for visiting that strange slavery thing, which caused them to be absent from this afternoon’s votes in the House of Representatives,” Wilders joked on Tuesday.
Following the adoption of the amendment to officially criminalise being in the country illegally, Wilders said that his party would support the Asylum legislation, saying that it is a “step in the right direction”.
However, Wilders said that the legislation still is “far from enough” to confront the illegal migrant crisis.
Earlier this month, the PVV leader walked out of the government over disagreements with his neo-liberal coalition partners on immigration, arguing that they were watering down their commitments and breaking public trust on the issue. The move forced fresh elections, which will be held in October.
Wilders had won a stunning victory at the last elections in late 2024. However, despite his party coming out on top, as is typical in European parliamentary systems, he was forced to form a coalition with other parties to get enough seats in the house to run a government.
Yet, in atypical fashion, Wilders was not given the opportunity to become prime minister, as is typically the case for the leader of the largest party, with the coalition partners only agreeing to join with his Party for Freedom on the condition that Wilders was not made prime minister.
Launching his election campaign on Tuesday, Wilders said that this time around, he will “100 per cent” become the next Dutch prime minister and will fulfil his complete ten-point plan on immigration, which includes measures to immediately send back all alleged asylum seekers trying to enter the country from Germany or Belgium, an end to chain migration, the closure of asylum seeker centres, the return of Syrian refugees, and the deportation of foreign criminals, among others.
“The Netherlands must belong to the Dutch again, and the Dutch must come first again,” Wilders proclaimed.
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