THE HAGUE, August 25. /TASS/. The political crisis the Netherlands suffered after the resignation of the government has led to a noticeable decrease in the country's influence in the EU and is limiting its ability to shape the community's foreign policy agenda, the NRC newspaper wrote citing expert opinions.
According to Catherine de Vries, professor of the Department of European Politics at Bocconi University in Milan, "the political clout of the Netherlands in the European arena continues to decline." In particular, she noted that the lack of party affiliation of Acting Prime Minister Dick Schoof deprives him of the opportunity to participate in many behind-the-scenes negotiations in the EU, where key initiatives are traditionally developed based on party associations.
"After the government collapsed in June, the Netherlands had already lost some sway, and now, after the resignation of four acting ministers, the damage is even more serious," the expert stressed.
Former Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders also acknowledged that the country's "diplomatic impact" has weakened significantly, as foreign partners note the "extremely limited" support for the kingdom's government from parliamentarians. According to him, the constant change of ministers over the past ten years (the Netherlands has had eleven foreign ministers during this period) has kept the country from building long-term coalitions within the EU.
In turn, former Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the EU Pieter de Gooijer added that combining positions within the cabinet due to the resignation of many ministers weakens the country's ability to actively participate in international politics. "The degree of the Netherlands' presence in international affairs will decline," the diplomat summed up.
Political crisis in the Netherlands
The crisis situation in the Dutch government arose in early June, when the leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders, announced his withdrawal from the ruling coalition due to the lack of support for his plan to tighten the Dutch migration policy. The withdrawal of the Party for Freedom, which had received the largest number of mandates in the previous parliamentary elections, led to the collapse of the ruling coalition and a government crisis. Later, Schoof announced the resignation of the cabinet.
The King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, accepted the resignation of the ministers belonging to the Party for Freedom, but asked the prime minister and the other ministers to continue working until the formation of a new cabinet, which will begin after the early elections on October 29. Since then, the Dutch government has been an interim one.
In late August, the situation was aggravated by the lack of consensus among cabinet members on the issue of imposing sanctions against Israel in the context of the military operation in the Gaza Strip and the catastrophic humanitarian situation there. As noted, acting Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp was under intense pressure from the parliamentary opposition, which demanded that he take a tougher stance on Israel. In addition, large-scale pro-Palestinian rallies are regularly held throughout the country, with participants calling on the kingdom's authorities to increase pressure on the Jewish state. On August 22, after many hours of discussions on the situation in Gaza by members of the cabinet, with no consensus reached, Veldkamp announced his resignation. His powers until the elections will be entrusted to acting Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans. In a sign of solidarity, all of Veldkamp's fellow party members who were part of the cabinet resigned on the same day - four acting ministers and four state secretaries.