AMSTERDAM – Dutch anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders saw ministers from his party sworn in for the first time ever on Tuesday, as the Netherlands’ new right-wing government was installed almost a year after the previous administration resigned.
Far-right leader Wilders, the clear winner of last year’s general election, will not be part of the government himself, but his influence remains significant as he continues to lead his Freedom Party from parliament.
Wilders, convicted for discrimination after insulting Moroccans at a campaign rally in 2014, only managed to strike a coalition deal with three other conservative parties in May after relinquishing his bid to become prime minister.
Instead, the cabinet will be led by the independent and unelected Dick Schoof, a career bureaucrat who has led the Dutch intelligence agency AIVD and was a senior official at the ministry of justice. Schoof was proposed to alleviate concerns over Wilders’ anti-Islam rhetoric among his main coalition partners, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD, and the centrist NSC.
Wilders, who has lived under tight security for 20 years due to Islamist death threats, has stated he will not change his tone. Last week, he told his 1.4 million followers on social media platform X that he still sees Islam as a “despicable, violent, and hateful religion.”
He has appointed hardliners from his party to represent him in the cabinet, including several who have claimed that the government was actively working to replace the Dutch population with immigrants. The incoming government will adhere to the agreement reached by the four parties, which aims to clamp down on immigration and create exceptions for EU asylum and environmental rules. Schoof and his team are expected to present detailed plans by September.
The government will have limited room to spend as the euro zone’s fifth-largest economy saw its strong post-pandemic boom end in a recession last year. Unemployment is set to remain relatively low, but the coalition agreement is forecast to take the government’s budget deficit close to the EU maximum of 3%.
The new government will be the first since 2010 without Mark Rutte, who will become NATO’s secretary-general in October. The Netherlands’ longest-serving prime minister bowed out on Sunday with a televised speech, emphasizing the need for cooperation. “The Netherlands has a unique tradition of compromise and of taking responsibility, and it’s important that we keep that,” he said from his already cleared-out office. “Together we are stronger than alone.”