By Bart H. MeijerAMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch Senate will support a law to evenly spread asylum seekers over municipalities in the Netherlands, despite strong resistance from far-right election winner Geert Wilders' Freedom Party and other parties looking to form a new government.
In the end, Rutte's own party members in the Senate made a surprising U-turn on Tuesday and said they would support the law, giving it a decisive majority in the upper chamber.
If they reach an agreement, they would be forced to deal with the law that the Senate is now set to officially adopt on Jan. 23.
"My god," Wilders said in a post on X in response to news about the VVD's Senate decision.
Ruben Brekelmans, a VVD lawmaker in the lower chamber, said he wished his Senate colleagues had waited for an agreement on stricter migration policies before handling the spread of asylum seekers.
Persons:
Bart H, Geert Wilders, Wilders, Mark Rutte, Ruben Brekelmans, Bart Meijer, Paul Simao
Organizations:
Meijer, Dutch, Freedom Party, Party, Senate
Locations:
Netherlands