Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch far-right populist Party for Freedom (PVV), on Monday (May 26) again threatened to bring down the shaky Dutch government coalition -- if his demands for tougher migration-related measures were not met "within a few weeks".

"Our patience has now run out," Wilders told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference. "The voters who made the PVV the largest party have the right to a cabinet that delivers."

The PVV gained by far the most votes in the November 2023 general elections. It has the most members of Parliament of all four coalition partners and could therefore force a political crisis and fresh election by quitting the coalition.

Wilders, who failed to become Prime Minister after resistance from other major parties, insisted on closing both asylum centers and the borders for asylum seekers and family reunifications.

"Tens of thousands of Syrians should go back to their own country," he said. "And if you as a foreigner seriously overstep the mark here and misbehave, then you should leave the country."

Before the current coalition government came into power last July, the parties had agreed on tough measures against asylum seekers.

Last December, for instance, the Netherlands launched additional controls at the borders with Germany and Belgium in a bid to curb irregular immigration. And last month, the coalition said it wants to send children with rejected asylum claims to 'return hubs' in their countries of origin.

10-point plan

These and other restrictive measures apparently haven't gone far enough for who Wilders, who this week reportedly set out a ten-point plan that includes deploying the army to control the borders and even closing the border for asylum seekers, deporting dual nationals convicted of a crime, closing asylum centers and sending around 60,000 Syrian refugees back to their home country.

While admitting that some measures would take more than a few weeks to become reality, he reportedly called for the necessary decisions to be taken within that timeframe.

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This wasn't the first time Wilders had warned the other coalition parties that he would pull out from the coalition to push through his stricter migration and asylum measures. In fact, he has frequently threatened to quit the coalition.

Despite Wilder's threats, the government led by Prime Minister Dick Schoof has hitherto survived.

Recent polling suggests support for the PVV has lost some ground in approval ratings. Yet it is still among the top three parties, along with the liberal VVD party and the left-wing Labor/Greens.

The current Minister for Asylum and Migration, Marjolein Faber, is from the PVV.

with AFP, dpa