Dutch coalition talks falter as 1 out of the 4 leaders in talks to form a new government walks out

Weeks of negotiations to form a new ruling coalition in the Netherlands led by anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders appeared to have ended fruitlessly

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Weeks of negotiations to form a new ruling majority coalition in the Netherlands led by anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders appeared to end fruitlessly Tuesday as one of the four party leaders involved in the talks walked out without an agreement.

“Incredibly disappointing. The Netherlands wants this cabinet and now Pieter Omtzigt is throwing in the towel while we were still in discussions until today. I don’t understand it at all," Wilders said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Omtzigt later tweeted a statement explaining position the position of his party New Social Contract, or NSC, saying that it was “very shocked” at the state of government finances after reading reports this week provided by ministries.

“Under no circumstances does the NSC want to make promises to Dutch people that it knows in advance are empty promises that cannot be fulfilled during the coming cabinet period,” the statement said.

Omtzigt appeared to rule out taking part in a majority coalition, but said that his party would continue to cooperate on efforts to form a government such as “by providing constructive support to a minority cabinet or a broad extra-parliamentary cabinet.”