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THE HAGUE, July 8 (Reuters) - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is due to meet King Willem-Alexander on Saturday, to discuss a caretaker administration the day after his centre-right government collapsed following a row on migration policies. The resignation of the coalition government means parliament will most likely be dissolved and the Dutch will go to the polls in a general election, expected to be held in November. Rutte, 56, in power since 2010, is already the Netherlands' longest serving prime minister. He told a press conference late on Friday that he'd like to run for a fifth term but...

AMSTERDAM, July 7 (Reuters) - The Dutch government on Friday collapsed after failing to reach a deal on restricting immigration, junior coalition partner Christian Union said, a move expected to trigger new elections in the fall.

Americans should start paying closer attention to the ongoing farmer protests in the Netherlands, which this week transformed long swaths of Dutch highways into what looked like a post-apocalyptic warzone: roadside fires raging out of control, manure and farming detritus heaped across highways, traffic stalled for miles, and massive protests across the country in support of the farmers. Why is the Netherlands, of all places, experiencing such unrest? Americans need to understand what’s happening over there because the ruinous climate policies that triggered these protests are precisely what President Joe Biden and the Democrats have in mind for the United...

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Hungary "must leave" the European Union (EU) or reverse a new bill banning content that advocates LGBTQ for anyone under 18-years-old. Earlier this month, Hungary's parliament passed legislation forbidding all educational materials and programs for children that promoted homosexuality and gender reassignment. Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, said the measure was about "defending the rights of the kids and the parents," MSN reports. Even though the EU cannot force a country to leave, taking a "step by step" approach could produce the intended effect, Rutte told reporters. "My goal is to bring Hungary...

European leaders warned Friday that Britain could become a formidable rival, just hours after a big victory by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conservatives all but sealed the UK’s Brexit divorce. But the EU chiefs, meeting in Brussels, also expressed relief that British voters had sent a clear message, bringing to an end the first phase of a crisis that has dogged Europe for more than three years. Led by France and Germany, EU member states said they would pursue a swift trade deal with a tight deadline of end 2020, but insisted that any new arrangement must uphold European values...

Prime Minister Mark Rutte understands why American president Donald Trump is critical of NATO and EU countries' Defense spending, he said in a speech about cooperation between the United States and the Netherlands. He also called Trump's criticism of the United Nations "at its core, justified", RTL Nieuws reports. NATO countries agreed to spend two percent of their gross domestic product on Defense by 2024. The Netherlands, and some other European Union member states, has not yet reached that target. Trump and his administration regularly criticize European NATO countries for not increasing their Defense budgets. "Anyone who is a member...

In recent elections, the party Forum for Democracy trumped PM Rutte's party with 13 new seats in the Senate. The party's figurehead, Thierry Baudet is cast in the press as a racist and fascist. Watch his victory speech and see for yourself what he's made of.

Dutch anti-immigration populists stunned Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become the largest party in the senate Thursday following elections that took place just days after a suspected terror attack. Thierry Baudet's Forum for Democracy party, which also backs a "Nexit" from the EU, came from nowhere to win most votes in Wednesday's provincial elections, with more than 98 percent of ballots counted, the NOS broadcaster said. The result will ring alarm bells across Europe where populists are expected to make big gains in European Parliament elections in May. Baudet, 36, a former academic with a history of controversial comments about...

PRIME MINISTER ASKS TRUMP ‘ARE THEY ALWAYS LIKE THIS?’ AS REPORTERS SHOUT UNINTELLIGIBLY President Trump hosted the Prime Minister of the Netherlands at the White House Monday. ... The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, was clearly shook by all the reporters shouting questions. Trump told the PM at the beginning of the meeting that it’s like the “Academy Awards” as all the cameras flashed. After the presser, reporters continued shouting at the top of their lungs at the pair of world leaders. Rutte turned to Trump, bewildered and asking “Is it always like this?” Trump whispered something to...

Exit polls have shown that Mr Rutte's VVD party will win 31 of 150 seats in today's parliamentary election, compared to 19 seats for 3 other parties, including that of Mr Wilders. The exit poll was conducted at 43 of the 9,300 polling stations across the country. It had a margin of error of two percentage points. 🇳🇱 #Netherlands | @IpsosNL/@NOS EXIT POLL - seats VVD 31 PVV 19 {wilders} CDA 19 D66 19 GL 16 SP 14 PvdA 9#tk17 #tk2017 #ikstem #DutchElection — Electograph (@Electograph) March 15, 2017

Mr Wilders, the leader of the anti-Islamist Party for Freedom (PVV), is taking on Mr Rutte, from the Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), in the knife-edge election race. The blonde populist has already cast his vote in the election after a fiery election campaign in which he pledged to shut the country's borders, ban the Koran and close mosques. 11am GMT update: Many PVV voters are backing Mr Wilders in order to rock the political establishment and voice their anger over sky-high immigration. "I am voting for Wilders. I hope he can make a change to make the Netherlands...

The spectacular election breakthrough of the far-right anti-Muslim Party for Freedom shocked the Netherlands on Thursday as two mainstream parties braced for weeks of coalition haggling. The pro-business Liberal VVD party had 31 seats and the Labour party (PvdA) 30, with 98 percent of the vote counted. But far-right PVV leader Geert Wilders demanded a share of government after his party came third with 24, more than doubling its seats in the 150 member parliament. "Nobody in The Hague can bypass the PVV anymore," said Wilders, whose party wants an end to immigration from Muslim countries and a ban on...