PVV Pullout Triggers Dutch Snap Election

A snap Dutch election on 29 October 2023 was triggered after Geert Wilders's far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) pulled out of the fragile coalition, prompting caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof to resign and call new polls. Polls placed the PVV first with roughly 34 of 150 seats, but the proportional system and the refusal of many parties to govern with a party that sidelines Muslims make an outright PVV majority unlikely. The campaign was dominated by immigration — Wilders campaigned for near-total border closures, halted asylum procedures and tougher deportations — and by an acute housing crisis many voters link to migration. The PVV's hardline agenda reshaped national debate and fuelled local conflicts over asylum reception centres, notably in places like Brummen. At the EU level, migration cooperation with North Africa drew scrutiny after a controversial €1bn EU–Tunisia migration deal criticized by rights groups, with an EU–Tunisia summit in the spotlight.