Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who led the government for 12 years, has resigned. According to Euronews, the prime minister and the government will remain in office until new elections later this year.
The ruling coalition broke up the day before, having failed to agree on the issue of accepting refugees. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by Rutte, demanded tougher conditions for asylum, as the country began to run out of places for newly arriving refugees. In particular, it was proposed to limit the right to family reunification, including for people who fled the zone of military conflicts.
The coalition included four parties and lasted a year and a half. The VVD and the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) advocated tighter controls on migration, while the D66 party and the Christian Union (ChristenUnie) did not support tough measures.
More than 21,500 people applied for asylum in the country in 2022, according to statistics from the Netherlands.