The Dutch government has averted collapse over migration policy after far-right leader Geert Wilders backed down over a demand for drastic measures potentially in breach of EU law.
His Freedom party, one of the four coalition partners in the Netherlands, scrapped a plan to declare a migration crisis, which would have allowed the adoption of further measures without parliamentary consent.
Instead, centre-right coalition partner New Social Contract convinced Wilders to settle for a draconian refugee policy set to be approved by the cabinet on Friday, which will have to be endorsed by parliament.
These include cutting residency rights for refugees from five to three years, allowing some to be returned to parts of Syria, scrapping quotas for housing refugees, and reintroducing border controls as Germany has done, two party officials told the Financial Times.
The compromise is the latest attempt by centrist forces in the three-month old government to rein in anti-Islam firebrand Wilders, whose party won the most seats in last year’s election, sending shockwaves through the EU.