Dutch snap election set for October 29: minister
The Netherlands will hold a general election on October 29 following after far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his PVV party out of the coalition government this week.
"We have officially set the election date: the... elections will take place on Wednesday 29 October 2025," Interior Minister Judith Uitermark wrote on X.
"In the coming period, I will work with the municipalities and other stakeholders to prepare so that this important day in our democracy goes smoothly," added the minister.
Less than a year in office, Prime Minister Dick Schoof's government fell apart when Wilders demanded that coalition partners sign a 10-point anti-migration plan or risk the cabinet's end.
The proposal included sealing the borders with military patrols and rejecting all asylum-seekers at entry points.
The four-party coalition, formed more than six months after the November 2023 election, brought together Wilders' PVV party alongside other centre-right parties under the leadership of Schoof, a former intelligence chief.
Recent polls show support for Wilders' PVV has declined, although it remains the biggest party in the Dutch parliament.
Schoof will continue to lead a caretaker government until a new coalition is formed following the October vote.
Agencies
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Billionaire to leave fortune to 100 children he's fathered
Last year, a clinic in Moscow began advertising its supply of Durov's sperm and offering free IVF for women willing to have a child with 'one of the most famous and successful entrepreneurs of our time'. The AltraVita clinic said: 'Pavel Durov is willing to finance all the IVF protocols that use his sperm. It is a very generous contribution to society from someone who wants to help those dreaming of becoming parents.' Durov's 100 children rank him among the world's top sperm donors, though he is not the most prolific. Jonathan Jacob Meijer, a Dutch YouTuber, reportedly fathered 1000 children, according to Netflix, although he insists it is only 550. Durov is not the only technology entrepreneur to advocate having a large number of children. Elon Musk is reported to have at least 14 children, who he has referred to as his 'legion' and has pushed 'smart people' to have more offspring. 'A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilisation faces by far,' Musk said in 2022. In the US, a 'pro-natalist' movement has emerged amongst conservatives urging people to have more children in order to tackle declining birth rates. 'I want more babies in the United States of America,' JD Vance said in his first address as vice president in January. Durov founded VKontakte, known as Russia's Facebook, before he left the business and Russia under pressure from the Kremlin in 2014. He later founded Telegram, an encrypted messaging app used by more than 1 billion people, as well as a cryptocurrency. Telegram has repeatedly faced criticism for its light-touch content moderation and last year Durov was charged in France with complicity in spreading child abuse online and allowing drug trafficking. He has denied the charges and told Le Point they were 'totally absurd'. Durov runs Telegram, which only has around 50 staff, from Dubai, although since his arrest in France he has been barred from leaving the country. Born in the Soviet Union, he now has French and Emirati citizenship. Despite his vast paper fortune, he is known for his minimalist lifestyle, strict diet and veganism. He told Le Point he did not own a 'house, yacht or private jet', although he enjoyed staying in 'beautiful hotels'. Loading The billionaire is also fitness guru. He told Le Point he begins his day with 300 push-ups and 300 squats and posts videos to his Instagram of his ice baths. His arrest last August at Le Bourget airport fractured a previously friendly relationship with the French state. Durov's French citizenship application was fast-tracked by Emmanuel Macron, an active Telegram user, who had previously personally spoken with the billionaire over the app.
The Age
2 days ago
- The Age
Billionaire to leave fortune to 100 children he's fathered
Last year, a clinic in Moscow began advertising its supply of Durov's sperm and offering free IVF for women willing to have a child with 'one of the most famous and successful entrepreneurs of our time'. The AltraVita clinic said: 'Pavel Durov is willing to finance all the IVF protocols that use his sperm. It is a very generous contribution to society from someone who wants to help those dreaming of becoming parents.' Durov's 100 children rank him among the world's top sperm donors, though he is not the most prolific. Jonathan Jacob Meijer, a Dutch YouTuber, reportedly fathered 1000 children, according to Netflix, although he insists it is only 550. Durov is not the only technology entrepreneur to advocate having a large number of children. Elon Musk is reported to have at least 14 children, who he has referred to as his 'legion' and has pushed 'smart people' to have more offspring. 'A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilisation faces by far,' Musk said in 2022. In the US, a 'pro-natalist' movement has emerged amongst conservatives urging people to have more children in order to tackle declining birth rates. 'I want more babies in the United States of America,' JD Vance said in his first address as vice president in January. Durov founded VKontakte, known as Russia's Facebook, before he left the business and Russia under pressure from the Kremlin in 2014. He later founded Telegram, an encrypted messaging app used by more than 1 billion people, as well as a cryptocurrency. Telegram has repeatedly faced criticism for its light-touch content moderation and last year Durov was charged in France with complicity in spreading child abuse online and allowing drug trafficking. He has denied the charges and told Le Point they were 'totally absurd'. Durov runs Telegram, which only has around 50 staff, from Dubai, although since his arrest in France he has been barred from leaving the country. Born in the Soviet Union, he now has French and Emirati citizenship. Despite his vast paper fortune, he is known for his minimalist lifestyle, strict diet and veganism. He told Le Point he did not own a 'house, yacht or private jet', although he enjoyed staying in 'beautiful hotels'. Loading The billionaire is also fitness guru. He told Le Point he begins his day with 300 push-ups and 300 squats and posts videos to his Instagram of his ice baths. His arrest last August at Le Bourget airport fractured a previously friendly relationship with the French state. Durov's French citizenship application was fast-tracked by Emmanuel Macron, an active Telegram user, who had previously personally spoken with the billionaire over the app.
The Age
2 days ago
- The Age
Iran ruler's iron grip has lasted almost four decades. Who is the man Israel wants to kill?
Khomeini abolished the monarchy in favour of an Islamic republic system he had devised and was soon embroiled in hostilities with the US. The era of the ayatollahs (high-ranking Shiite Muslim religious scholars) began. For years, Khamenei served as Iran's president under Khomeini, until the first supreme leader's death in 1989. Khamenei was then appointed leader, a role in which he has served for nearly four decades. 'That was somewhat controversial at the time because the Iranian Constitution stipulated the education requirements that the supreme leader needed to be a top Islamic scholar,' said Dara Conduit, a University of Melbourne research fellow specialising in Iran and the Middle East. How much control does he wield? Because Khamenei was appointed controversially, he was viewed as weak and lacking credibility at the beginning of his rule. But, said Conduit, he shed that label and has become immensely powerful. Loading Khamenei holds ultimate authority over all branches of government, the military and the judiciary. While elected officials manage day-to-day affairs, no major policy – especially one involving the United States – proceeds without his explicit approval. Iran's hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the paramilitary Basij answer directly to Khamenei. He exercises control of the Setad, the clandestine state-owned financial enterprise worth tens of billions of dollars. How has he remained in power? His leadership style has blended ideological rigidity with strategic pragmatism. He is deeply sceptical of the West, particularly the US, which he accuses of seeking regime change. Yet he has shown a willingness to bend when the survival of the Islamic republic is at stake. In 2013, Khamenei first mentioned the concept of 'heroic flexibility', which permits tactical compromises to advance his goals. His cautious endorsement of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with six countries, including the US, was an example of this. Loading He has maintained his concrete grip on power despite disdain from many of his own citizens, according to the Group for Analysing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran, a Dutch independent research group. When Iran president Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash last year, many Iranians celebrated. And when Israel attacked Tehran last week, some locals partied, chanting 'death to Khamenei'. But he has quelled internal protests by deploying his Revolutionary Guard, notably against the huge 2009 Green Movement protests regarding the disputed re-election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Then in 2022, Khamenei arrested, imprisoned and sometimes executed protesters enraged by the death of young Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini.
