Today the forming parties discussed finance, migration and asylum. The latter topic in particular seems to be a stumbling block, says BNR’s political reporter Leendert Beekman. “They’re not on the same side yet, they’re facing each other.”
Asylum and migration are stumbling blocks
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Leak
Today it was leaked that some parties want the Netherlands to label the subject of asylum as a crisis. This means that international treaties to which the Netherlands is bound regarding migration and asylum can be set aside. PVV leader Geert Wilders expressed disappointment about the leak.
‘That’s not the way it should be, so I’m not going to respond to that. I think it’s terrible what’s on the street,” says Wilders, who adds that this is bad for “the space you have to negotiate.” However, according to Beekman, it is significant that the leak has not been debunked. ‘He is not happy that we all know where they stand in those discussions about asylum.’
No goat path
Nevertheless, according to State Secretary Eric van der Burg, such a definition makes little difference: it helps with reception, but according to the State Secretary, international treaties can no longer be circumvented. The fact that asylum and migration remain the most difficult subject is also evident from the words of NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt. He stated that if the parties were out on asylum and migration, ‘we would be out on everything’.
Also read | Timmermans denies calls for violence against Wilders
Report, nonsense
In the meantime, Wilders has filed a complaint against GroenLinks-PvdA leader Frans Timmermans because he said he would do nothing to prevent the PVV from governing the Netherlands, Timmermans called that nonsense. ‘A storm in a teacup’, thinks Beekman. ‘He has filed charges before, including against Mark Rutte because he allegedly discriminated against the entire Dutch people, and it was ultimately dismissed. I have a feeling we won’t be talking about this much in a few months.’
