Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is resigning following his attempts to curb inward migration, which caused friction inside his four-party coalition government. The country now faces elections featuring the famous Farmers Citizens Movement, as well as migration-skeptic firebrand Geert Wilders.
Rutte is likely to seek a fifth term, depending on the will of his party, with recent polling showing him likely to command the largest number of seats (28) in the Dutch parliament. The Farmers Citizens Movement currently only has one member of the House of Representatives, expected to surge to over 20, making them the second largest party. The Farmers Citizens Movement recently delivered a shock in Senate elections, making it the largest party in the upper chamber.
The serving PM’s resignation came against the backdrop of almost 50,000 asylum seekers entering the country over the past year, with projections of up to 75,000 for the next. These are relatively “small” numbers by US or UK standards, but for a country physically smaller than San Bernardino County in California, the numbers are have caused major upheaval.
The country is home to 17 million people, making it comparable in population to Pennsylvania, which itself received 51,000 non-citizens in 2022.