Coalition talks collapse in The Hague over asylum seeker plan

Coalition formation talks in The Hague have definitively failed, with the election-winning party Hart voor Den Haag, led by Richard de Mos, and D66 announcing Saturday that they could not reach an agreement. Both parties stated in separate declarations that the negotiations were "definitively broken."

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extreme demands

The main obstacle preventing a coalition was the controversial plan to temporarily house 450 asylum seekers in the former Haga Hospital, located in the upscale Vogelwijk neighborhood. This plan had previously sparked several disruptive demonstrations and was a central promise of Hart voor Den Haag's campaign, which vowed to block the asylum center's establishment.

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outright exclusion of asylum seekers from the outset does not fit within a rule of law.

Hart voor Den Haag described the asylum seeker accommodation as a "symbol" of the "current Hague asylum policy" that the party opposes. D66 faction leader Yousef Assad accused De Mos's party of making "extreme demands," including the closure of existing reception centers. Assad stated that while his party was open to discussing numbers and duration of stay, "outright exclusion of asylum seekers from the outset does not fit within a rule of law."

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symbol

De Mos's party, which secured a significant victory with sixteen seats in the March municipal elections, is now exploring potential alliances with VVD, CDA, and Denk. These parties, according to De Mos, are "much closer" to Hart voor Den Haag's positions and could form a narrow majority. This follows a similar collapse of coalition talks in Rotterdam, where the VVD unexpectedly withdrew.

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much closer