The Netherlands’ parliament on Tuesday narrowly voted against a multibillion-euro European Union defense plan presented by Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof last week.
The motion was introduced by the right-wing populist JA21 party, also known as the Conservative Liberals.
It was supported by three of the four coalition parties. The motion passed in a 73-71 vote, with the opposition Socialists (SP) also voting in favor.
Though the motion is not legally binding, it raises uncertainty about how the government will proceed.
As we speak there’s a meeting of the cabinet (the governement coalition). As the prime minister has already agreed to the European initiative, and then the coalition parties voted against it, which is very unusual.
I think that either the coalition partners will change their position or the prime minister wil resign. There’s not much more to it.