Wilders throws Dutch politics into turmoil with new elections now on the horizon

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Populist far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders plunged Dutch politics into turmoil Tuesday by withdrawing his party's ministers from the ruling coalition in a dispute over a crackdown on migration. The remaining ministers will run a caretaker administration until new elections can be organized.

The decision means the Netherlands will have a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of NATO leaders in three weeks.

Prime Minister Dick Schoof held an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the crisis and then visited King Willem-Alexander to offer him the resignations of ministers from Wilders' Party for Freedom.

Schoof, a career civil servant who was handpicked by Wilders a year ago to lead the government, said he had repeatedly told coalition leaders in recent days that bringing down the government would be “unnecessary and irresponsible.”

“We are facing major challenges nationally and internationally and, more than ever, decisiveness is required for the safety of our resilience and the economy in a rapidly changing world,” Schoof said.

No date for a new election has been set, but it is unlikely before the fall.

Schoof's 11-month-old administration goes down in history as one of the shortest-lived governments in Dutch political history.

Wilders announced his decision early Tuesday in a message on X after a brief meeting in parliament of leaders of the four parties that make up the fractious administration.

Wilders told reporters that he was withdrawing his support for the coalition and pulling his ministers out of the Cabinet over its failure to act on his desire for a clampdown on migration.

“I signed up for the toughest asylum policy and not the downfall of the Netherlands,” said Wilders, whose Party for Freedom is still riding high in Dutch opinion polls, though the gap with the center-left opposition is negligible.

Coalition partners rejected that argument, saying they all support cracking down on migration.

Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the right-wing People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, said before the meeting that Schoof urged the leaders to act responsibly.

“The prime minister who appealed to us this morning said that we are facing enormous international challenges, we have a war on our continent, an economic crisis may be coming our way,” Yesilgöz told reporters in parliament.

But just minutes later, the meeting was over and so was Wilders' involvement in the government.

“I'm shocked,” Yesilgöz said, calling Wilders' decision “super-irresponsible.”

After years in opposition, Wilders’ party won the last election on pledges to slash migration. He has grown increasingly frustrated at what he sees as the slow pace of the coalition’s efforts to implement his plans.

Last week, Wilders demanded coalition partners sign on to a 10-point plan that aims to radically slash migration, including using the army to guard land borders and turning away all asylum-seekers. He said at the time that if immigration policy is not toughened up, his party “is out of the Cabinet.”

He made good on that pledge Tuesday.

Wilders’ decision comes days after conservative Karol Nawrocki was announced the winner of Poland’s weekend presidential runoff election, a victory that suggests that Poland will likely take a more populist and nationalist path under its new president, who was backed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

It is not the first time Wilders has turned his back on power. He pledged his support to a minority government led by former Prime Minister Mark Rutte in 2010, but walked away less than two years later after a dispute about government austerity measures.

“You know that if you work with Wilders in a coalition ... it won’t go well,” Rob Jetten, leader of the opposition D66 party, told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

Caroline van der Plas, leader of the pro-agriculture populist Farmers Citizens Movement that is part of the coalition, said she was angry at Wilders' decision.

“He is not putting the Netherlands first, he is putting Geert Wilders first,” she told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

Nicolien van Vroonhoven, leader of the New Social Contract party that has taken a battering in polls since joining the coalition and the departure of its talismanic leader Pieter Omtzigt, said the government could continue without Wilders, saying a minority Cabinet “is definitely an option.” Schoof's statement appeared to put an end to such a course of events.

Frans Timmermans, the former European Commission climate chief who now leads the main opposition bloc in parliament, welcomed Wilders' decision. He said he would not support a minority government and called for fresh elections as soon as possible.

"Well, I think it’s an opportunity for all democratic parties to rid ourselves of the extremes because it’s clear that with the extremes you can’t govern. When things get difficult, they run away,” he told The Associated Press.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof waves after handing in the resignation of Geert Wilder's PVV party ministers to King Willem-Alexander at royal palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the right-wing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, speaks to the media after a meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, after far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his party out of the ruling four-party Dutch coalition in dispute over migration. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof arrives at Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch to hand in his resignation in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof announcing handing the resignation of the PVV ministers in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, after far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his party out of the ruling four-party coalition in dispute over a crackdown on migration. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Nicolien van Vroonhoven, leader of the New Social Contract party, reacts after a meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, after far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders pulled his party out of the ruling four-party Dutch coalition in dispute over migration. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders talks to the media after pulling his party out of the four-party Dutch coalition in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders talks to the media after pulling his party out of the four-party Dutch coalition in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders talks to the media after pulling his party out of the four-party Dutch coalition in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Caroline van der Plas, leader of the populist Farmers Citizens Movement party, arrives for a meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, to discuss demands of far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders for a swift crack down on migration. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the right-wing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, arrives for a meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, to discuss demands of far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders for a swift crack down on migration. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

FILE - Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, takes his seat at the high security court at Schiphol, near Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)