Former Labour Party intelligence chief Schoof heads far-right Dutch government

On July 2, 2023, following the victory of far-right politician Geert Wilders in the November elections, former head of the Dutch Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) Dick Schoof was appointed Prime Minister. His appointment epitomizes the deep links between neo-fascism, police state rule, and imperialist war against Russia that underpin Dutch and European imperialist policy.

U.S. President Joe Biden (left) and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (right) greet Dick Schoof, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, as they arrive for the NATO summit welcome ceremony in Washington, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The unelected Schoof did not run in November’s election and did not attend any parliamentary sessions, but will now replace Mark Rutte, the prime minister who served for 14 years. Rutte himself was appointed the next secretary general of NATO and knighted by the king of the Netherlands. Schoof, for his part, has a notorious political record that includes decades of attacks on democratic rights and advocacy for aggressive foreign policy, especially war with Russia. This has made him the “man of the hour” for the Dutch ruling class.

Schoof is a long-time member of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), but leads a coalition of far-right populist parties with Rutte’s liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). His three far-right coalition partners are Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV), Pieter Omtzigt’s New Social Contract (NSC) and Caroline van der Plas’ Peasant Citizens’ Movement (BBB).

Geert Wilders’ PVV, which joined the far-right Patriots for Europe alliance amid far-right gains in last month’s European elections, is the largest party in the ruling coalition, with 37 of 88 seats. As a result, his fascist PVV party dominates the new government. It has outlined a draconian police state agenda in a 26-page coalition agreement titled “Hope, Courage, Pride.”

Although Wilders himself does not hold a ministerial position in Schoof’s government, the new cabinet and its decisions, whether on foreign or domestic policy, undoubtedly bear his fingerprints. His PVV party holds key positions in Schoof’s government, including on asylum and migration, the economy, infrastructure and transport, foreign trade and healthcare.

Rutte’s VVD secured the finance ministry, the second most influential position in Schoof’s government, alongside the defense, ecology and justice ministries. The newly formed NSC presides over both home and foreign affairs, as well as the education, science and culture ministry and social affairs. BBB is responsible for housing and agriculture in a 29-ministerial cabinet of former diplomats, military officers, judges and corporate and media executives.

Marjolein Faber, Minister of Asylum and Migration for the Freedom and Security Party, is a known racist and right-wing provocateur, known for using Nazi phraseology.

On July 4, during the first parliamentary debate with the new government, Frans Timmermans, who leads the opposition coalition of the Green Left and the Labour Party (GroenLinks-PvdA), whitewashed its decade-long history that paved the way for the rise of the far right. Downplaying the dangers posed by Schoof’s government, he said: “This is a circus, not a serious cabinet.”

In fact, an analysis of the coalition agreement reveals that the policies this government is trying to implement both at home and abroad show that it is far from being a mere “circus.” Its brutal repression of anti-genocide protests in Dutch cities is a foretaste of the far-reaching implications for the working class.

The groundbreaking decision of the Dutch bourgeoisie to form a government, in which Wilders’ far-right PVV has its roots in global processes. In all NATO countries, ruling elites are striving to build police state regimes, as they intend to wage imperialist war abroad and class war against workers at home. Wilders’ rise, like Trump’s in the United States or Le Pen’s in France, is linked to deep social anger and disillusionment with the ruling establishment, linked to decades of betrayal of working class interests by parties like the Dutch PDV.

Dutch Labourite Schoof comes to power as prime minister at the same time as, across the Channel, Sir Keir Starmer takes office as head of a British Labour government. The fact that Schoof takes office as head of a far-right government is a warning of the reckless and deeply reactionary policies that all NATO governments will pursue.

Even before the first cabinet meeting, the Dutch Ministry of Defense informed the parliament that it had obtained all necessary permits to export 24 F-16 fighters and 7 F-16 engines to Ukraine. Since the beginning of the NATO-Russia war in Ukraine, the Netherlands has played a key role in convincing other imperialist powers to supply Ukraine with F-16s, which can strike deep into Russia. Earlier, the Dutch government delivered F-16s to a training center in Romania, where Ukrainian pilots and ground crew were trained.

The global war plans of Dutch imperialism and its NATO allies are inextricably linked to the rise of the far right. They are accompanied by twin policies of austerity to finance the increase in military spending and the witch hunt for refugees and immigrants as scapegoats for the resulting social misery.

While the Dutch treasury has already allocated €4.4 billion ($4.7 billion) to arm the Ukrainian army, the Dutch ruling class is now calling for preparations for war and mass death. As Geoffrey van Leeuwen (VVD), former national security advisor to Mark Rutte, openly declared earlier in April, the Dutch population should “get used to… civilian casualties and body bags.”

At the same time, funding for public services such as healthcare, education and housing has been consistently cut, while workers face rising food and utility prices.

The new right-wing coalition is set to implement the most draconian asylum and migration policy in Dutch history. At a press conference explaining the coalition agreement, Wilders predicted more police state measures against asylum seekers and migrants, including implementing the “strictest asylum policy in history” and abolishing the distribution law. In addition, the new government will implement border controls as a top priority, Wilders stressed. The PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB parties also plan to significantly restrict family reunification for refugees.

The appointment of Schoof and his right-wing government widened the gap between the ruling elite and society, and put them on a collision course with an increasingly militant Dutch working class.

While the bourgeoisie and political establishment increasingly adopt fascist forms of government, the Dutch working class increasingly fights for better wages, working conditions and housing with students. In the Netherlands, there have been mass protests against the genocide in Gaza, isolated by the corrupt Dutch union bureaucracy, which has opposed brutal police repression and right-wing condemnations in the official media.

Amid the explosive class struggles to come, the way forward is to build an international socialist movement among the working class against war, genocide and fascism and their source, the capitalist system.