THE HAGUE (AP) — The new Dutch government dominated by the far-right party of Geert Wilders officially asked the European Union for an exemption from its migration obligations on Wednesday, setting up a confrontation over one of the most explosive issues facing the bloc at a time when support for anti-immigration parties in Europe is rising.

Dutch Migration Minister Marjolein Faber of Wilders’ party wrote to the European Commission that the Netherlands wants out of regulations for accepting refugees, claiming that otherwise one of the wealthiest countries in the world would struggle to provide public services.

“I have just informed the EU Commission that I want a migration opt-out within Europe for the Netherlands. We need to be in charge of our own asylum policy again!” Faber said.

Faber was seeking to fulfill a campaign promise to quickly and drastically reduce the number of immigrants in the nation.

During Wednesday’s debate in parliament, Wilders called the move a “a sort of mini-Nexit,” a play on “Netherlands” and “exit,” and much like Brexit. He has repeatedly called for the country to depart the European Union during his three-decade long career but the move is not currently part of any government plans.

In a letter to Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Faber insisted that the government needed to “drastically reduce the volume of migration to the Netherlands, in order to continue to fulfil our constitutional duties — providing for public housing, healthcare and education.”

On Tuesday, the government, which came to power in July, announced its policy blueprint for the coming year, including stricter policies to hold back or kick out migrants who don’t qualify for asylum.

It echoes campaign themes from across much of the EU where populist and far-right parties have surged, profiting from a wave of popular discontent with promises of tackling the migration issue first and foremost.

Even though Faber’s party rode to an election victory last November on the promise of swift, forceful action on immigration, the letter itself was much more cautious.

It said the Netherlands would call for an opt-out from the rules “in case of (EU) treaty amendment,” a prospect which is many years off, at best.

“An opt-out is only possible in view of the treaty changes. Important: this is a legal requirement. Also in this context, we do not expect any immediate changes,” said EU spokeswoman Anitta Hipper, adding that until then, migration rules remain “binding on the Netherlands.”

The last treaty change dates from 2008 and there are no current plans to negotiate a new one. Should there be an appetite for a new treaty, all 27 member states would have to agree to give the Netherlands special dispensation.

New figures released this week by the EU’s asylum agency show 17,376 people applied for international protection in the Netherlands, a nation of 17,7 million, in the first six months of this year, a fairly consistent number. That amounts to around 3% of all applications lodged in Europe. Most of them were Syrians, Iraqis or from Turkey.

In its most recent complete figures, the EU’s statistical agency, Eurostat notes that 4,880 people from non-EU countries were ordered to leave the Netherlands in the first three months of this year. A total of 1,420 people were actually deported during that time, just under one in three.

Unauthorized migration to European Union countries dropped significantly overall in the first eight months of this year, even as political rhetoric and violence against migrants increased and far-right parties espousing anti-immigration policies made gains at the polls.

Earlier this week, the Dutch refugee settlement agency COA announced it was expecting a shortage of beds at the overcrowded asylum center in the tiny village of Ter Apel in the northeastern Netherlands.

The government is planning to declare an “asylum crisis” to pave the way for tougher measures, including reining in visas for family members of people granted asylum and making it easier and quicker to deport migrants who are not eligible for asylum. That plan must first be reviewed by a key political advisory panel, and at least one party in the governing quartet has said it will reject the emergency measures if they do not receive the panel’s approval.

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Casert reported from Brussels. Lorne Cook contributed from Brussels

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The hard-right Dutch government announced unprecedented measures Friday aimed at reining in migration, including a re-introduction of border checks, making the Netherlands the latest European nation to take a hardline stance against migration as anti-foreigner sentiment surges throughout much of the continent.

Among the measures that will be swiftly sent to parliament for approval are a move to restrict family members who can join a person who has been granted asylum in the Netherlands, cutting the length of temporary visas and declaring parts of civil war-ravaged Syria safe so that authorities can reject asylum applications from migrants from those regions. Syrians form the largest national group among migrants arriving in the Netherlands.

The announcement comes a week after European Union leaders looked at ways to tackle migration and turn the 27-nation bloc into a Fortress Europe after years of striking a more welcoming tone. Germany, one of the Netherlands’ neighbors, also recently reintroduced some border checks and the new French government has also pledged a hardline approach to migration.

“We want to make the Netherlands as unattractive as possible,” said Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber, who is a member of nationalist, anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders’ party that dominates the government.

“Today is a beautiful day,” said Wilders. The powerful leader of his Party for Freedom hailed the measures as historic and “the toughest asylum policy ever.”

The Dutch Cabinet approved the package after Wilders and other party leaders held talks into the early hours to hammer out a compromise on how to enact the changes.

The government also will scrap a law that obliged municipalities to house migrants.

The association of Dutch municipalities said that the measures would “create chaos.” It said that “tasks should be fairly distributed among municipalities.”

Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the moves aim at “reducing the inflow, accelerating the outflow, returning those who are not lawfully staying and getting the asylum chain back in order and thus reducing the pressure on society.”

The Dutch Council for Refugees said in its reaction to the plans that leaked earlier this week that they would not solve the problems in the Netherlands.

“This ‘toughest-ever asylum policy’ is not a solution for anybody,” the council said in a statement and insisted that the problems in the Netherlands were caused by a slow asylum system and lack of accommodation for arrivals.

The four-party coalition formed after Wilders’ election victory last year came to office in July on a pledge to control migration, but has been wrangling ever since over how to quickly implement changes.

Over the last 12 months, 51,000 people have applied for asylum in the Netherlands, a nation of 18 million, according to figures from the country’s Immigration and Naturalization Service. Last month, there were 4,026 arrivals, fewer than the 4,683 in September last year.

Weeks of debate leading up to Friday’s decision centered on whether to use crisis legislation that can be enacted without parliamentary approval or a fast-track legislation that requires lawmakers’ approval.

After talks between Wilders and the New Social Contract party that campaigned at last year’s election on pledges to improve governance after a string of scandals in recent years, the Cabinet agreed to seek parliamentary approval for the new measures.

Critics, including lawyers, opposition lawmakers and New Social Contract, questioned the legality of implementing crisis legislation to tackle long-standing problems in the migration system.

Friday’s measures are not the first step taken by the Dutch coalition. In September, Faber wrote to European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson seeking an opt-out from EU migration rules.

Faber insisted that the government needed to “drastically reduce the volume of migration to the Netherlands, in order to continue to fulfill our constitutional duties — providing for public housing, healthcare and education.”

The shift to the right in the Netherlands echoes moves elsewhere in Europe where hard-right leaders such as Wilders ally Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán are also moving to drastically reduce the number of migrants.

Last month, the EU began the process of clawing back hundreds of millions of euros in funds meant to go to Hungary after its ant-migrant government refused to pay a huge fine for breaking the bloc’s asylum rules by persistently depriving migrants of their right to apply for asylum.

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Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

‘We sank the HMS Conservative Party,’ said Farage. ‘They are over, they are finished.’

Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, also seized control of their first regional councils in Thursday’s vote, and captured their first two mayoral posts.

The results confirmed a trend that Britain is entering an era of multi-party politics, reshaping a political landscape dominated by Labour and the Conservative Party since the start of the 20th century.

“We sank the HMS Conservative Party. They are over, they are finished,” Farage crowed to a crowd gathered in celebration in the central town of Stafford.

“We can and we will win this next general election,” the Brexit champion said.

Farage’s insurgents won a knife-edge parliamentary by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, overturning what had been a safe Labour majority.

The party also won its first ever mayoral posts in Lincolnshire as well as the Hull and East Yorkshire mayoralty – both newly created positions.

And Reform won its first regional and local councils, including central Staffordshire, northwestern Lancashire and Kent in the south.

The group’s strong Runcorn showing adds impetus to Reform’s momentum seen at last year’s general election.

‘Disappointing’

Retiree Christopher Davies, who voted Reform because he felt “disgruntled” with Labour, told AFP the result was a “wake up call for both” the country’s main parties.

“I don’t agree with all the things that Reform are on about, but… it was just out of total disillusionment with the system,” the 67-year-old said.

The polls were the first since Labour leader Keir Starmer became prime minister and Kemi Badenoch took over the reins of the struggling opposition Conservatives last year.

Karen Shaw, the Labour candidate in Runcorn, lost by just six votes © Oli SCARFF / AFP

Starmer called the results “disappointing”, pledging to go “further and faster” in delivering change.

Badenoch conceded the public was “still not yet ready to trust us”.

The Conservatives did regain one mayoral post from Labour.

But with 19 out of 23 councils counted late Friday, they had lost around 500 council seats out of the 1,641 across 23 local authorities which were up for grabs. Labour was down 144.

Most appeared to have gone to Reform, which added 532 councillors, but the Tories were also squeezed by the traditional third party, the centrist Liberal Democrats, who gained 132.

The left-wing Greens also made gains, particularly in the south.

Political fragmentation

Even though turnout was low at around 30 percent, analyst Tim Bale from Queen Mary University of London, said it was “an incredibly impressive performance” by Reform.

Reform won the Runcorn by-election by just six votes after a recount © Oli SCARFF / AFP

Reform’s new Greater Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns said the “fightback to save the heart and soul of our great country has now begun”.

But Runcorn teaching assistant and Labour voter Rebecca Thomas, 44, accused Reform of “creating a lot of hatred, really, and I’m quite scared for our children’s future”.

Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was disappointed by the result © HENRY NICHOLLS / POOL/AFP

Reform’s by-election victory takes its number of parliamentary seats to five, an unprecedented number for a British hard-right party in the 650-seat chamber.

The local council seats in play on Thursday were only a fraction of England’s 17,000 councillors.

Surveys show Britons are increasingly disillusioned amid anaemic economic growth, high levels of irregular immigration and flagging public services.

Reform, which has vowed to “stop the boats” of irregular migrants crossing the English Channel, is hoping Thursday’s successes will help it build its grassroots activism before the next general election — likely in 2029.

‘Change course’ –

Labour won the national vote that propelled it to power last July with just 33.7 percent of the vote, the lowest share for any party winning a general election since World War II.

Sarah Pochin’s victory makes her the fifth Reform UK MP in parliament © Oli SCARFF / AFP

At a declaration in Runcorn shortly before 6:00 am (0500 GMT) election officials said that after a recount Reform’s Sarah Pochin had won by just six votes, narrowly defeating Labour candidate Karen Shore.

That was a 17-percent swing from Labour to Reform, after the party won the seat with 53 percent of the vote last year.

The result showed the party “must change course,” said Labour MP Brian Leishman.

“If we don’t improve people’s living standards then the next government will be an extreme right wing one,” he warned.

© 2025 AFP

Nigel Farage (center), leader of the Reform UK party, celebrates the victory of Sarah Pochin, the party’s candidate, in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election at the DCBL Stadium in Widnes, northwest England, in the early hours of May 2, 2025. OLI SCARFF / AFP

Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour party on Friday, May 2, in local elections that dealt a blow to Britain’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities. The group’s strong showing continues the momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics.

“For the movement, for the party, it’s a very, very big moment indeed,” Brexit champion Farage said of Reform’s first-ever by-election win and Starmer’s first electoral loss since he took office last July. Reform also picked up dozens of council seats from both Labour and the Conservatives as Britain’s political landscape shows signs of splintering.

The polls were the first since Starmer became prime minister and Kemi Badenoch took over the reins of the struggling opposition Conservatives last year. Just 1,641 seats across 23 local authorities were up for grabs – only a fraction of England’s 17,000 councillors – but early results suggested Reform was transferring leads in national polls into tangible results at the ballot box.

Read more Subscribers only The UK’s Labour government is at odds with its left wing

Expected gains for the Liberal Democrats and Greens

The centrist Liberal Democrats and left-wing Greens also expected to make gains, as surveys show Britons are increasingly disillusioned with the two main parties amid anaemic economic growth, high levels of irregular immigration and flagging public services. In the fight to become West of England mayor, one of six mayoralties being contested, the difference between the vote share of the winning party and the fifth-placed one was just 11%. Labour only narrowly held the North Tyneside mayoralty after a 26% swing to Reform, while the BBC projected that the anti-immigrant party would win the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty.

Reform, which has vowed to “stop the boats” of irregular migrants crossing the English Channel, is hoping that winning mayoralties and gaining hundreds of councillors will help it build its grassroots activism before the next general election – likely in 2029.

British politics has been dominated by the center-left Labour party and center-right Tories since the early 20th century. Labour won a huge parliamentary majority in July with just 33.7% of the vote, the lowest share for any party winning a general election since World War II. The Conservatives won just 24% of the vote, securing only 121 seats in the 650-seat Parliament as the party endured its worst election defeat. Reform picked up five seats, an unprecedented haul for a British hard-right party, while the Liberal Democrats won 61 more MPs than at the previous election and the Greens quadrupled their representation to four. Labour won Runcorn with 53% of the vote last year, meaning it was one of its safest seats, while Reform got just 18%.

Read more Subscribers only Quarrels at the top of the British far right

At an initial result declared shortly before 6:00 am local time Friday, election officials said Reform’s Sarah Pochin secured 12,645 votes to 12,639 for Labour candidate Karen Shore. Turnout was 46%. The vote was sparked after sitting Labour MP Mike Amesbury was convicted of assault for punching a man in the street. Labour spokesperson said by-elections are “always difficult for the party in government” and the events surrounding the Runcorn vote made it “even harder.”

On Tuesday, Reform UK topped a YouGov poll of voting intentions in Britain with 26%, three points ahead of Labour and six up on the Conservatives. Labour has endured criticism over welfare cuts and tax rises that it claims are necessary to stabilize the economy. As Labour edges rightward, it is facing a growing challenge from the Greens on the left. Under threat from Reform on the right, the Tories are also being squeezed on the left by the Liberal Democrats, the traditional third party, which was eyeing gains in the wealthy south.