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PoliticsNetherlands

Netherlands: Former spy chief to lead right-wing coalition

May 28, 2024

Dick Schoof, the former head of Dutch intelligence and anti-terrorism, is set to become the new Prime Minister of the Netherlands at the head of a coalition government led by Geert Wilders' far-right PVV party.

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Dick Schoof (C), tipped to become the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands, arrives for a meeting with the leaders of the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB parties. May 28, 2024, The Hague in the Netherlands.
Dick Schoof (C), tipped to become the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands, met with the leaders of the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB parties on Tuesday ahead of the announcementImage: Jeroen Jumelet/ANP/AFP/picture alliance

A former head of the Dutch intelligence and security service AIVD is set to become Prime Minister of the Netherlands at the head of a right-wing-led coalition government.

Dick Schoof, a 67-year-old senior civil servant at the country's justice ministry with no current party affiliation, is considered an expert on security and migration – two key issues for the four coalition partners.

The largest party in the coalition is the nationalist Party for Freedom (PVV), which emerged as the largest party after November's election — albeit with less than a quarter of the vote and nowhere near enough support to govern by itself.

After months of negotiations, the PVV was able to strike a deal with the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the conservative New Social Contract (NSC) party and the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB).

Coalition deal required a PM other than Wilders

As part of the negotiations, PVV leader Geert Wilders agreed to forfeit the office of Prime Minister and make concessions on some of his more extreme anti-Islam policies such as a ban on mosques.

Wilders, known for his inflammatory far-wing rhetoric and anti-immigration and anti-EU positions, said Schoof, who was once a member of the center-left Labour Party, "stands above the parties and has our trust."

As well as the AIVD intelligence agency, Schoof also headed up the NCTV anti-terrorism agency for several years and was head of the Dutch immigration service in the early 2000s.

Though a high-ranking senior official for a long time in the Netherlands, Schoof's public profile is limited.

In its governing plan published on May 16, the coalition said it would aim for the "strictest-ever asylum regime" with stronger border controls and harsher rules for asylum seekers who arrive in the Netherlands, already putting it on a collision course with the European Union (EU).

After months of political limbo since the November election, which admittedly is standard procedure in the Netherlands after most national votes, Wilders last week said he expected the new government to be operational by the end of June.

mf/msh (Reuters, dpa)