THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch opposition parties called Wednesday for fresh elections as soon as possible, a day after anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders sparked the collapse of the country's four-party coalition government.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof's 11-month-old administration fell apart when Wilders withdrew his Party for Freedom ministers. Schoof and the ministers of three remaining parties remain in power as a caretaker Cabinet.
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Far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders appears 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 after pulling his party out of the four-party Dutch coalition in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Frans Timmermans, of the center-left two party bloc of Labor Party and Green Left, looks on 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)
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced handing the resignation of the PVV party 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)
The government, with limited powers, now has to lead the country for months before new elections and during what could — again — be protracted talks to cobble together a new coalition in the fragmented Dutch political landscape after the vote.
Lawmakers can declare some policy areas “controversial” during the caretaker period. That restricts the government from taking concrete action on those issues.
The Dutch electoral commission will schedule a general election for all 150 seats in the Second Chamber of parliament.
It is very unlikely to happen before the fall because of a parliamentary recess that starts July 4 and runs to Sept. 1 and that will be followed by several weeks of campaigning.
In a statement to lawmakers, Schoof said he wants to keep control, even in caretaker mode, of vital policies over the coming months.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s about security, both nationally and internationally, including support for Ukraine and everything that’s needed for defense," he said.
He also wants to be able to act on the economy, including the global trade war unleashed since the start of U.S. President Donald Trump's second term, "because that can have a direct effect on the Dutch economy and on our business community.”
But Schoof acknowledged that some other policies will be put on ice until there is a new coalition.
“The last thing we want now is postponement, but it is unavoidable in some cases,” he said.
They want to go to the polls.
“I hope we can organize elections as quickly as possible, in the shortest possible time,” said Frans Timmermans, the former European Commissioner who now leads a two-party, center-left bloc.
Timmerman's bloc of the Labor Party and Green Left is challenging Wilders' party for top spot in Dutch polls. Wilders won the last elections in November 2023.
Lawmakers used Wednesday's debate to attack Wilders for failing to make good while in office on his 2023 election pledges — in what sounded like a proxy electoral debate.
“You turned your back on these people,” Jimmy Dijk of the Socialist Party said, suggesting that Wilders apologize to his voters.
And it's not just the opposition that wants elections. Wilders also is looking forward to campaigning.
“Let's go back to the voter,” he said.
The government remains committed to hosting the meeting of government leaders from the NATO alliance in The Hague later this month.
Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp took to X soon after the administration's collapse to stress that the meeting will go ahead despite the political turmoil.
“We remain fully committed to organising the #NATOsummit in The Hague. We look forward to welcoming all NATO Allies on 24 June,” he wrote.
He also said the Netherlands will continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression. The Netherlands has provided key arms to Kyiv, including F-16 fighter jets.
“We remain committed to European cooperation and security. Dutch support for Ukraine is a key part of that,” he wrote.
Far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders appears 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 after pulling his party out of the four-party Dutch coalition in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Frans Timmermans, of the center-left two party bloc of Labor Party and Green Left, looks on 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)
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced handing the resignation of the PVV party 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)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer there and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon, as Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
The Minneapolis gathering was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and cities across the country over the weekend. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Renee Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest Saturday. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that’s unacceptable.”
On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel that attracted about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday. One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck with a piece of ice, O’Hara said. Twenty-nine people were cited and released, he said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that while most protests have been peaceful, those who cause damage to property or put others in danger will be arrested. He faulted “agitators that are trying to rile up large crowds.”
“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement efforts in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz echoed the call for peace.
“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it took just one day for them to kill someone,” Walz posted on social media. “Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from that horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation. Trump's administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.
Connor Maloney said he was attending the Minneapolis protest to support his community and because he's frustrated with the immigration crackdown.
“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that it’s happening in our community around us.”
Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday because of the “horrifying” killing of Good in Minneapolis.
“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”
Indivisible, a social movement organization that formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.
In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the demonstration that began in a park about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where the 37-year-old Good was shot on Wednesday. Marchers carried signs calling for ICE to leave and voiced support for Good and immigrants.
A couple of miles away, just as the demonstration began, an Associated Press photographer witnessed heavily armed officers — at least one in Border Patrol uniform — approach a person who had been following them. Two of the agents had long guns out when they ordered the person to stop following them, telling him it was his “first and final warning.”
The agents eventually drove onto the interstate without detaining the driver.
Protests held in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful, in contrast to the violence that hit Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and officers guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
O’Hara said city police officers have responded to calls about cars abandoned because their drivers have been apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one case, the car was left in park and in another case a dog was left in the vehicle.
He said immigration enforcement activities are happening “all over the city” and that 911 callers have been alerting authorities to ICE activity, arrests and abandoned vehicles.
The Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers were taking part.
Some officers moved in after abruptly pulling out of Louisiana, where they were part of another operation that started last month and was expected to last until February.
Three congresswomen from Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building on Saturday morning and were initially allowed to enter but then told they had to leave about 10 minutes later.
U.S, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig accused ICE agents of obstructing members of Congress from fulfilling their duty to oversee operations there.
“They do not care that they are violating federal law,” Craig said after being turned away.
A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies that limit congressional visits to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C. to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.
Associated Press writers Allen Breed in Durham, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.
People place flowers for a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Friday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Rep. Kelly Morrison D-Minn., center, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., second from the right, and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., far right, at the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference as Police Chief Brian O'Hara listens, on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents look on as protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman holds a sign for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier in the week, as people gather outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two people sit in the street with their hands up in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Two people sit in the street holding hands in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
