The new hard-right Dutch coalition pledges stricter limits on asylum

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The new hard-right Dutch government pledged Tuesday to launch stricter policies to hold back or kick out migrants who don’t qualify for asylum, as the king laid out the administration’s plans in a speech to open the parliamentary year.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, a mostly ceremonial monarch, summarized the wide-ranging policy blueprint for the coming year and beyond a day after members of the hard right-led coalition publicly bickered over its plans to slash migration, underscoring divisions even within the four-party coalition over how to push through the reforms.

The speech was a formal expression of the country's sharp turn to the right after last year's election victory by the populist anti-immigration Party for Freedom led by Geert Wilders, which echoed a sentiment that is spreading across Europe.

Among a long list of policy priorities, the king — in a speech written by the government — said that “problems are particularly urgent in the asylum chain” and that the government will urgently do all in its power “to reduce the number of asylum applications.”

"Key words are faster, stricter and more frugal,” the king said as anti-immigration leader Geert Wilders and other lawmakers looked on.

The speech was surrounded by pageantry, patriotism and even a smattering of republicanism, as the royals were driven through The Hague in ornate horse-drawn carriages past cheering spectators and a small group of protesters seeking an end to the monarchy.

It also ushered in the first major test of a technocratic new government chosen by the right-wing parties that triumphed in last year's elections.

The speech also pledged to tackle issues like chronic housing shortages, a cost of living crisis and pollution caused by the country's huge agriculture sector, while also keeping government spending in check.

“Nobody will be forced to close their farm,” the king said as Caroline van der Plas, leader of the Farmer Citizen Movement that is part of the coalition government, nodded her approval.

On foreign policy, the king said the traditional Dutch open outlook on the world will not change.

“After all, cooperation within the European Union and NATO is our main guarantee of prosperity, stability and security. The decision to continue supporting Ukraine serves direct national interests, both military and economic,” he said.

On Monday, a senior member of a party in the coalition said she would oppose the government's plans to rein in immigration if a key political advisory panel rejects them.

The comments Monday by Nicolien van Vroonhoven of the New Social Contract party triggered angry reactions from Wilders ’s populist anti-immigration Party for Freedom, which won national elections last year, and the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.

As if addressing the question head on, the speech said that government policy “will be logical, explicable and above all feasible. Naturally the government will stay within the bounds of the rule of law,” while also cautioning that plans could be limited by “spatial, environmental or financial constraints, or by personnel shortages.”

The spat underscored the fragility of a coalition that was pulled together after months of negotiations. Prime Minister Dick Schoof was eventually chosen to head a Cabinet made up of politicians and civil servants because the leaders did not want the outspoken Wilders as prime minister.

While the government seeks consensus on a deal to drastically dial back immigration, a town in the northern Netherlands opened a sports hall overnight to accommodate asylum seekers who otherwise would have been forced to sleep outdoors because of a shortage of space at a reception center.

The local mayor accused Marjolein Faber, the minister responsible for asylum seekers and migrants, of allowing an accommodation crisis to escalate.

“The minister is shunning her responsibility. She is responsible for people who come to the Netherlands for asylum. She has had enough time and sufficient opportunity to accommodate people in a decent way. She consciously does not do this,” Mayor Jaap Velema said in a statement Monday.

The government is planning to declare an “asylum crisis” to pave the way for tougher measures including reining in visas for family members of people granted asylum and making it easier and quicker to deport migrants who are not eligible for asylum.

The government also plans to apply for an opt-out from European Union migration rules and step up border check following similar moves implemented Monday by neighboring Germany. It remains unclear how many of the Dutch government's plans can be enforced.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, seated next to Queen Maxima, outlines the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Housing Minister Mona Keijzer, Social Affairs Minister Eddy van Hijum, Climate and Green Growth Minister Sophie Hermans, Health Minister Fleur Agema, Prime Minister Dick Schoof, from left to right, listen to Dutch King Willem-Alexander outlining the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, seated next to Queen Maxima, outlines the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Three women wait for Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima to arrive, prior to the King outlining the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch police, foreground and background, monitor the crowd waiting for Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima to arrive, prior to the King outlining the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, seated next to Queen Maxima, outlines the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders arrives for a ceremony where Dutch King Willem-Alexander outlines the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, seated next to Queen Maxima, outlines the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander outlines the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, seated next to Queen Maxima, outlines the new government's policy plans and budget for the coming year in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

View of the governments buildings under renovation and the skyline of the Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday that leader Kim Jong Un supervised successful tests of two types of missiles — one designed to carry a “super-large conventional warhead” and the other likely for a nuclear warhead, as he ordered officials to bolster up his country’s military capabilities to repel United States-led threats.

The tests appear to be the same as the multiple missile launches that neighboring countries said North Korea performed Wednesday, extending its run of weapons displays as confrontations with the U.S. and South Korea escalate.

The official Korean Central News Agency said that Kim oversaw the launch of the country’s newly built Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 ballistic missile tipped with a dummy “4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead.” It said the test-firing was meant to verify an ability to accurately hit a 320 kilometer (200 mile) -range target, suggesting it’s a weapon aimed at striking sites in South Korea.

KCNA said Kim also guided the launch of an improved “strategic” cruise missile, a word implying the weapon was developed to carry a nuclear warhead.

After the tests, Kim stressed the need to continue to “bolster up the nuclear force” and acquire “overwhelming offensive capability in the field of conventional weapons, too," according to KCNA. It cited the Kim as saying that North Korea can thwart its enemies' intentions to invade only when it has strong military power.

KCNA released photos of a missile hitting a ground target. South Korea's military said later Thursday it assessed that both ballistic and cruise missiles fired by North Korea the previous day landed in the North's mountainous northeastern region.

North Korea typically test-launches missiles off its east coast, and it's highly unusual for the country to fire missiles at land targets likely because of concerns about potential damages on the ground if the weapons land in unintended areas.

Jung Chang Wook, head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, said North Korea likely aims to show it's confident about the the accuracy of its new ballistic missile with a high-powered warhead meant to attack ground targets. But Jung said North Korea hasn't acquired weapons that can penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground structures.

The Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 ballistic missile's first known test occurred in early July. North Korea said the July test was successful as well, but South Korea's military disputed the claim saying one of the two missiles fired by North Korea travelled abnormally during the initial stage of its flight before falling at an uninhabited area near Pyongyang, the capital. North Korea hasn't released photos on the July launches.

North Korea has been pushing to introduce a variety of sophisticated weapons systems designed to attack both South Korea and the mainland U.S. to deal with what it calls its rivals’ intensifying security threats. Many foreign experts say North Korea would ultimately want to use its enlarged arsenal as leverage to win greater concessions in future dealings with the U.S.

Worries about North Korea deepened last week as it disclosed photos of a secretive facility built to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs. Since late May, North Korea has also floated thousands of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea, prompting the South to resume anti-North loudspeaker broadcasts at border areas.

Follow AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missiles launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missiles launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a launch of an improved strategic cruise missile at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, oversees a launch of, what it says, the country’s newly built Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 ballistic missile at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)