Dutch king swears in a new government 7 months after far-right party won elections

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A new Dutch government was sworn into office Tuesday on promises to impose strict new limits on immigration, more than seven months after elections dominated by a far-right, anti-Islam party.

While its policies seem largely inward-looking, the new government pledges to maintain support for Ukraine. New Prime Minister Dick Schoof, a former intelligence chief, told the Associated Press he sees the biggest threat to the Netherlands coming from ‘’the east.''

Tuesday marked the first time the Netherlands has had a new prime minister in 14 years, as Dutch King Willem-Alexander swore in the country’s new government and Schoof took over from long-serving Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The anti-immigration party of firebrand Geert Wilders won the largest share of seats in elections last year but it took 223 days to form a government.

Schoof, former head of the Dutch intelligence agency and counterterrorism office, signed the official royal decree Tuesday at Huis Ten Bosch Palace. The 67-year-old was formally installed alongside 15 other ministers who make up the country’s right-leaning coalition.

The new coalition quickly faced criticism of its marquee anti-immigration policies — by its own party members, as well as opposition groups. Protesters gathered in front of the palace where the ceremony took place on Tuesday, with one woman carrying a sign asking: “Are we democratically getting rid of our democracy?”

The four parties in the coalition are Wilders’ Party for Freedom, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, the populist Farmer Citizen Movement and the centrist New Social Contract party.

The formal agreement creating the new coalition, titled “Hope, courage and pride,” introduces strict measures on asylum-seekers, scraps family reunification for refugees and seeks to reduce the number of international students studying in the country.

Opposition from other coalition partners prevented the controversial Wilders from taking the prime minister’s job. During the monthslong negotiations, he backpedaled on several of his most extreme views, including withdrawing draft legislation that would have banned mosques, Islamic schools and the Quran.

The coalition agreement pledges to continue providing assistance to Ukraine, which has included billions in both military and nonmilitary support.

“This was one of the three pillars,” new defense minister Ruben Brekelmans told AP. Brekelmans said that despite previous comments by Wilders, who has expressed pro-Russia views, he was not concerned that the new government would change course on the subject.

Schoof was unequivocal. “The greatest threat is from the east. And I might be more worried about it than most,” Prime Minister Schoof told AP just after he took up his new office.

Schoof served as National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security when Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014. The passenger jet was traveling from Amsterdam to Malaysia, killing all 298 aboard, including 196 Dutch citizens. A Dutch court convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian in 2022 of involvement.

Although the November elections were widely seen as a win for the Dutch far right, political youth organizations are already pushing back on the ambitions of the new government. Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, youth groups from six parties, including two of the coalition partners, called for a softening on asylum plans.

“Although the influx must be limited, it is of great importance that we receive people here fairly and with dignity,” Eva Brandemann, chairperson of the youth wing of the New Social Contract, told Dutch public broadcaster NOS.

The head of the youth wing of Rutte’s party, which brought down the government last summer over concerns about the number of family reunifications for refugees, said that problems stemmed from administration, not migration.

“The problem will only get bigger if you don’t fix it,” Mauk Bresser, the chair of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy youth organization told AP.

The new agreement slashes the country’s education budget by nearly 1 billion euros — about $1.06 billion — prompting pushback from universities. “Students will not get the education they deserve,” Nivja de Jong, a languages professor at Leiden University, told the AP. She’s part of a group of academics pushing back against the proposed cuts by delivering lunchtime talks about the importance of their research.

The new government will now spend the summer firming the coalition agreement into a governing plan.

The Netherlands isn’t the only country seeing a rise of anti-immigration, far-right views. Last month's EU elections saw a similar shift, and French voters face a decisive choice on July 7 in the runoff of snap parliamentary elections that could see the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation.

Justice Minister David van Weel answers questions prior to a cabinet meeting of the new government in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Netherlands Climate minister Sophie Hermans talks to fellow ministers during a meeting of the new government in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Prime Minister Dick Schoof, second left, and Health Minister Fleur Agema, left, look on during the first cabinet meeting of the new government in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The Netherlands has a different prime minister for the first time in 14 years as Dutch King Willem-Alexander swore in the country’s new government Tuesday, more than seven months after elections dominated by a far-right, anti-Islam party. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Prime Minister Dick Schoof turns to the photographers during a cabinet meeting of the new government in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The Netherlands has a different prime minister for the first time in 14 years as Dutch King Willem-Alexander swore in the country’s new government Tuesday, more than seven months after elections dominated by a far-right, anti-Islam party. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Incoming Prime Minister Dick Schoof, left, meets with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, before being sworn in at royal palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (Remko de Waal/Pool Photo via AP)

Prime Minister Dick Schoof answers question prior to a cabinet meeting of the new government in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The Netherlands has a different prime minister for the first time in 14 years as Dutch King Willem-Alexander swore in the country’s new government Tuesday, more than seven months after elections dominated by a far-right, anti-Islam party. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Incoming Prime Minister Dick Schoof, left, meets with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, before being sworn in at royal palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (Remko de Waal/Pool Photo via AP)

Prime Minister Dick Schoof arrives for a cabinet meeting of the new government in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The Netherlands has a different prime minister for the first time in 14 years as Dutch King Willem-Alexander swore in the country’s new government Tuesday, more than seven months after elections dominated by a far-right, anti-Islam party. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, center right, Prime Minister Dick Schoof, center left, ministers and deputy ministers of the new Dutch government pose for a group picture at royal palace Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (Remko de Waal/Pool Photo via AP)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander meets with Dick Schoof, right, who was nominated to succeed Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, July 1, 2024. (Patrick van Katwijk/Pool Photo via AP)

Incoming Prime Minister Dick Schoof arrives at the royal palace to be sworn in by Dutch King Willem-Alexander in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander meets with incoming Prime Minister Dick Schoof, right, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, July 1, 2024. (Patrick van Katwijk/Pool Photo via AP)

Incoming Prime Minister Dick Schoof, left, arrives at the royal palace to be sworn in by Dutch King Willem-Alexander in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander meets with incoming Prime Minister Dick Schoof, right, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, July 1, 2024. (Patrick van Katwijk/Pool Photo via AP)

The 10,500 athletes who will compete at the Paris Games include first-time Olympians who already have global recognition and others whose stardom is just waiting to be discovered by a wider audience.

Here's a look at a few of the expected newcomers when the action starts July 24:

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA

The 7-foot-4 (2.24 meters) prodigal son of French basketball returns as the NBA Rookie of the Year.

Wembanyama left the Olympics host city last June as the 19-year-old phenom picked No. 1 in the draft by the San Antonio Spurs.

His sky-high potential was on display during a standout season for the 22-60 Spurs, averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and a league-leading 3.6 blocks per game.

Wembanyama’s last competitive game in France was a loss for his club, Metropolitans 92, that completed a sweep in the national playoffs.

The next should be on July 27 when France opens its three-game Olympic pool phase in the northeast city of Lille, about 140 miles (230 kilometers) outside of Paris. Wembanyama and company will take on an opponent that will be decided at an upcoming qualifying tournament. France also faces Japan and world champion Germany.

Paris expects nothing less than Wemby’s return to the capital on Aug. 6 for the quarterfinals.

SUNNY CHOI

At age 35, Choi and her 50-year-old sport of breakdancing both will make Olympic debuts this summer.

It was an unusual path to Paris for this first-time Olympian, who will face competitors less than half her age in the Place de la Concorde on Aug. 9, the last Friday of the Games.

The Ivy League graduate left an executive position in New York at global cosmetics firm Estée Lauder to focus full-time on her dancing as the Paris Games approached.

As B-Girl Sunny — Grace is her given name, and Sun is her middle name — the Tennessee-born and Kentucky-raised Choi qualified by winning at the Pan-American Games last year.

The 16-dancer women’s lineup in Paris will include Dominika Banevič of Lithuania, who was 16 when she became world champion last year.

It could be Choi’s only shot at the Olympics. Organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Games let the sport slip off the program.

SHA’CARRI RICHARDSON

Richardson's “I’m Not Back, I’m Better” tour is making a stop in Paris, and the reigning 100-meter world champion has big plans for her first trip to the Olympics.

It looked as if Richardson was going to be one of the big stars of the Tokyo Games, but her victory in the 100 at the 2021 U.S. track trials was erased because she tested positive for a chemical found in marijuana. She went on TV and said she smoked marijuana as a way of coping with her mother’s recent death.

The 24-year-old Richardson won the 100 meters at the trials again this year, clocking 10.71 seconds despite a less-than-stellar start. She joins what is sure to be a loaded field for one of the biggest events in Paris.

LETSILE TEBOGO

The men’s world junior record in the 100 meters is held by another young track star from the 2023 worlds, Letsile Tebogo of Bostwana.

Tebogo, who will be 21 in Paris, was too young for the Tokyo Olympics after he won his first world junior title that same month.

He set a junior record of 9.94 seconds when he first ran at senior worlds, in Eugene, Oregon, in July 2022. Then he lowered his time to 9.91 while retaining his junior title.

At the 2023 worlds, Tebogo set his sights on individual sprint double champion Noah Lyles, running 9.88 for silver in the 100 and taking bronze in the 200.

Just as impressive, weeks earlier in London, Tebogo ran a 19.50 in the 200 at age 20 plus a few weeks. Lyles was almost 22 when he first ran 19.50 in 2019.

A Lyles-Tebogo rivalry could be a Paris highlight that shined beyond the Stade de France track.

DONYA ABU TALEB

Donya Abu Taleb is representing Saudi Arabia at the Paris Olympics.

Abu Taleb earned her place in the taekwondo competition in Paris by winning her semifinals bout at an Asian qualifying event in March.

Saudi Arabia had never sent female athletes to the Olympics before Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani and Sarah Attar went to the 2012 London Games. Shahrkhani competed in judo, and Attar ran the 800 meters for track and field.

The 27-year-old Abu Taleb, who took bronze at the 2022 world championship, is a genuine medal prospect in the 49-kilogram class. She was ranked No. 12 in June.

A native of the coastal city of Jeddah, she grew up training with boys and competes in a head scarf.

Her event, with 16 athletes in the lineup, is on Aug. 7 at the elegant glass-roofed Grand Palais.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Sha'Carri Richardson celebrates her win in the wins women's 100-meter run final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Saturday, June 22, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

France's basketball player Victor Wembanyama, who plays for the NBA San Antonio Spurs, speaks during media day at the French National Institute of Sport and Physical Education, in Vincennes, outside Paris, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

France's basketball player Victor Wembanyama, who plays for the NBA San Antonio Spurs, gestures while speaking during media day at the French National Institute of Sport and Physical Education, in Vincennes, outside Paris, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)