Geert Wilders is about to trigger the EU - and their reaction will tell us everything...

Geert Wilders is about to trigger the EU - and their reaction will tell us everything...

WATCH: Geert Wilders delivers his victory speech after shock win

GB NEWS
Millie Cooke

By Millie Cooke


Published: 17/05/2024

- 15:58

Updated: 17/05/2024

- 20:41

Within just hours of the new coalition being formed, the Dutch government promised to opt out of EU rules

When Geert Wilders won his shock victory in the Dutch general election last year, there was no doubt that it would cause problems for EU chiefs.

Not only did he put a so-called "Nexit" at the heart of his successful election campaign, he also hit out at what he described as a "migration tsunami" coming into the EU.


It's on this issue that Wilders and the newly-formed coalition is already proving to be a thorn in the bloc's side.

While the EU has toughened up its migration policies in recent months, introducing a new pact to crack down on illegal arrivals, many member states want to see the bloc go further.

Geert Wilders

When Geert Wilders won his shock victory in the Dutch general election last year, there was no doubt that it would cause problems for EU chiefs

PA

And the Netherlands is pushing the hardest.

Within just hours of the coalition being formed, the Dutch government promised to opt out of EU rules in order to bring in its "strictest-ever" asylum policy.

In a move that is certain to ruffle EU feathers, the bloc said their asylum policy would see people removed from the country "by force".

In a government plan, published on Thursday, the four-party coalition said it will try and put in place the "strictest-ever asylum regime", which will involve stronger border controls and harsher rules for asylum seekers who arrive in the European country.

The pact says: "An opt-out clause for European asylum and migration policies will be submitted as soon as possible to the European Commission.

"Concrete steps will be taken towards the strictest ever entry rules for asylum and the most comprehensive ever package to control migration."

To make matters worse, the Netherlands is not alone in its push for the EU to go even further in tightening up its migration policy.

The bloc is facing growing demands from more than half of its member states to allow them to control their own asylum systems and introduce Rwanda-style deportation schemes.

Italy and the Czech Republic are leading the revolt, made up of 19 member states.

Speaking at a joint press conference alongside Italian PM Giorgia Meloni earlier this week, Czech leader Petr Fiala said: "The Czech Republic and Italy are among the countries that want to go beyond where the migration pact has taken us and want to find a real solution to illegal migration, which we do not yet have in Europe."

In taking its latest anti-migration stand, the Netherlands is testing the EU's limits - and in the process, may just serve to add fuel to the fire that is growing across the bloc and force Von Der Leyen to show her true colours.

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